Dhar was born on May 10, 1918, in Srinagar in the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir in British India into a Kashmiri Pandit family.
[3] Dhar was a close associate of Indira Gandhi and was instrumental in finalising the 1972 Indo-Bangladesh treaty of peace, friendship and co-operation.
[5][6] He became one of the closest confidants of the Nehru-Gandhi family and also played a significant role in the 1972 Simla agreement between India and Pakistan.
[8] He negotiated the 1971 Indo-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation and was a principal architect of India's military intervention in neighbouring East Pakistan's civil war, which led to the creation of independent Bangladesh.
In 2012, Bangladesh president Zillur Rahman conferred the Liberation War Friendship Honour (posthumous) to Durga Prasad Dhar in recognition of his pioneering role in concluding the 1971 Indo-Soviet Friendship Treaty, mobilising international support in favour of Bangladesh and playing a special role in support of the Liberation War.