[1] Kewal Singh was born into a Sikh family in the Lyallpur District of West Punjab on June 1, 1915.
[7][8] Kewal Singh was India's Ambassador to Portugal in 1962 when India's annexation of Goa led to diplomatic relations between Lisbon and New Delhi being severed, while as High Commissioner to Pakistan in 1965, he similarly had to leave that country after the breaking off of diplomatic relations following the Indo-Pak War of 1965.
[10][11] India took over Sikkim, its protectorate, following prolonged internal disturbances there while Singh was foreign secretary.
[12] During his tenure, India signed an agreement for demarcating the maritime boundary with Sri Lanka and led a series of talks with the then Pakistani Foreign Secretary Agha Shahi on normalising communications and travel between the two countries.
[13][14] Following his retirement as the ambassador to USA, Kewal Singh taught at the UCLA and at Kentucky University's Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce where he was distinguished world statesman in residence until his death in 1991.He is survived by two children Mohinder and Gita.