Born on September 30, 1893, Menon was the Secretary in the Ministry of States which was established by the Government of India in 1947 to deal with the accession of princely states. AdvertisingPerhaps Menon’s greatest contribution was coming up with the original policy on accession that required the princely states to accede only in the three matters of defence, external affairs and communications. One of the states to which Menon travelled to secure its accession was Jammu and Kashmir. AdvertisingRecounting that day in his book, Menon states: “The Maharajah was asleep; he had left Srinagar the previous evening and had been driving all night. He states: “The State of Jammu and Kashmir is an Acceding State and ordinarily the State would have been treated like other Part III States.

Source: Indian Express September 29, 2019 19:07 UTC