Biography
K. Subrahmanyam (born 19 January 1929) grew up in Tiruchirapalli and Madras. Enrolling at Presidency College he received an MSc in Chemistry from the University of Madras in 1950 and, after standing first in India in the Civil Services Examination that year, was appointed to the Indian Administrative Service in 1951. After service in the Tamil Nadu cadre and in the Defence Ministry, he was appointed a Rockefeller Fellow in Strategic Studies at the London School of Economics in 1966. On returning to India he was appointed Director of the newly created Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) in New Delhi, a position he held until 1975. He then went on to a number of senior positions in the Government of Tamil Nadu and the Government of India including Chairman of India's Joint Intelligence Committee in New Delhi, Fourth Member, Board of Revenue, Government of Tamil Nadu, Home Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu, Additional Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, New Delhi,and Union Secretary for Defence Production in the Ministry of Defence – before returning as Director of IDSA in 1980. He returned to England as a Visiting Professor and Nehru Fellow at St John's College, Cambridge in 1987. Between 1974 and 1986 Subrahmanyam also served on a number of United Nations and other multilateral study groups, on issues such as Indian Ocean affairs, disarmament and nuclear deterrence; and also at various Pugwash conferences as a senior member.
Subrahmanyam is the author or co-author of fourteen books. These include The Liberation War (1972) with Mohammed Ayoob about the Bangladesh Liberation War, nuclear Myths and Realities (1980), India and the nuclear Challenge (1986), The Second Cold War (1983) and Superpower Rivalry in the Indian Ocean (1989) with Selig S Harrison.
Subrahmanyam declined the Indian government honour of a Padma Bhushan in 1999, stating that bureaucrats and journalists should not accept government awards. A festschrift in honour of Subrahmanyam, with essays by Indian and American policy experts, academics and journalists, was published in 2004 to mark his 75th birthday. Always an influential Indian media figure, he was featured in India Today magazine's 'High & Mighty' listing in 2006. The IDSA instituted an annual 'K Subrahmanyam Award' for contributions to Strategic Affairs in 2007. Noted historian Sanjay Subrahmanyam is his son.
On 11 November 2005, speaking on the 40th anniversary of IDSA's founding, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh singled out Subrahmanyam for his achievements:
| “ | Subrahmanyam's incisive writings continue to stimulate and contribute to the thinking of strategic analysis and policy makers in this vital area of national concern. We look forward to many more years of active contribution from this doyen of the strategic community in India. | ” |
Incidentally, Subrahmanyam was on board an Indian Airlines flight (IC 421) on 24 August 1984 when the plane was hijacked to Lahore, Pakistan and onward to Dubai where all passengers were released without incident. Interestingly, the arrested hijackers later claimed in court that it was Subrahmanyam who "planned the entire hijacking to examine nuclear installations in Pakistan."
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