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Inder Kumar Gujral As a young man, in 1947, Inder Kumar Gujral, former prime minister of India , joined the vast throngs of Hindu and Muslim migrants who left their homes when Britain 's colonial rulers partitioned the Indian subcontinent into the two new nations of India and Pakistan . As Hindus with roots in Jhelum, in the northeast of what became Pakistan , Gujral and his family fled east across the new frontier and made a new home in New Delhi , the Indian capital. It was an embittering time for millions of people. Large numbers of Hindus and Muslims were killed by enraged mobs as they migrated, and those who survived were left to struggle with the loss of loved ones, properties, and livelihoods. Gujral, who has twice served as India 's foreign minister, most recently in Deve Gowda's 10-month-long government, has said that an effort to improve relations with Pakistan was one of his main priorities. Borrowing from a phrase made famous in the speech made at the moment of independence in 1947 by Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister, Gujral said after his election as party leader, "We have to formulate another tryst with destiny," including an effort to create more neighborly relations with Pakistan . Gujral also pledged to attack the political corruption that is endemic in India . And he promised a renewed effort to tackle the problems of poverty, illiteracy and disease that have kept India close to the bottom of many tables that rate the progress of developing nations. As foreign minister, Gujral laid the groundwork for reduction of tensions with Pakistan by unilaterally easing travel and visa restrictions for Pakistanis visiting India . He also said that India , as by far the largest nation in the region, can afford to be generous with its neighbors, several of which have long resented domineering attitudes that they believe have inspired India in the past. He was born Inder Kumar Gujral in Jhelum on Dec. 4, 1919 , the son of two activists in the independence struggle against Britain , Narain and Pushpa Gujral. Like his parents, Gujral served time in prison during World War II for his political activities against the British, but he managed to complete two doctorate degrees at colleges in Lahore and in New Delhi , including one in literature.
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