Born on New Year’s Day 1953 into an eminent family, Salman Khurshid had his initial education in Delhi before obtaining his Masters from Oxford University, UK. He began his political career as an officer on special duty (in the early 1980s) in the Prime Minister’s Office during Indira Gandhi’s tenure. Since then, he has served as Union minister in various ministries. In the outgoing cabinet, he was minister for external affairs. He is the author of the bestseller Beyond Terrorism: New Hope for Kashmir (1994) and of a play Sons of Babur (2008). He and his wife Louise run the Zakir Husain Memorial Trust for the physically challenged.