Diplomatic powerhouse who shaped US foreign policy

Henry Kissinger, a controversial Nobel Peace Prize winner and diplomatic powerhouse whose service under two Presidents left an indelible mark on US foreign policy, died at his home in Connecticut on Wednesday at age 100, Kissinger Associates Inc said.

Kissinger was known for his disdain for India's leadership in the 1970s, but he had been advocating strong ties with India after Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister in 2014.

When Modi was in Washington on an official state visit in June this year, despite not keeping good health Kissinger travelled to listen to Modi's address at the luncheon at the State Department jointly hosted by Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

During the luncheon, the elderly American statesman patiently listened to the speech of the prime minister and had an interaction with him.

His ties with India in the 1970s when he was in the administration both as the national security advisor and secretary of state had soured, but before he turned to China, his first preference was India. It was at his advice that the US Chambers of Commerce in the 70s established the US India Business Council.

According to archival diplomatic conversations, as early as 1972 he had advocated for India and Japan to be the permanent member of the UN Security Council.

Historians say that both Kissinger and President Richard Nixon could not have a healthy relationship with Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and they turned their attention to China.

After the end of the Cold War, and the emergence of India as a strong power in the last 10 decades, his views on India had changed and for successive administrations, Kissinger has been advocating strong ties with India.