Background
Vengalil Krishnan Krishna Menon was born in 1897 in Kozhikode, India.
Vengalil Krishnan Krishna Menon was born in 1897 in Kozhikode, India.
He received his undergraduate and law training in Madras and then pursued studies in political science and law in England.
From 1929 to 1947 he lived in England and served as secretary of the India League, which was dedicated to the cause of Indian independence; he was also active in Labour Party politics.
From 1945 to 1947 he carried out several diplomatic missions for India and attended UN meetings as an alternate delegate. After Indian independence in August 1947, he was appointed High Commissioner for India in the United Kingdom. In July 1952 he left the post to serve as head of the Indian delegation to the United Nations, which was then trying to arrive at a truce agreement in the Korean War. He is credited with the resolution which eventually settled the deadlock over the prisoner-repatriation issue.
In 1956 he became Nehru's chief foreign policy adviser, and in 1957 he was appointed defense minister. When the initial success of the Chinese border attacks in October 1962 was attributed to his failure to make adequate defense preparations, he was dismissed as defense minister. He resigned from Nehru's cabinet in November 1962. He retired after running unsuccessfully for parliament in 1967.
From 1929 to 1947 he lived in England and served as secretary of the India League, which was dedicated to the cause of Indian independence; he was also active in Labour Party politics.
