Manakampat Kesavan Unni Nayar (22 April 1911 – 12 August 1950) was an Indian military colonel, journalist, and diplomat who was killed in the Korean War while working on behalf of the United Nations.

He was born 22 April 1911 at Manakampat house near Parli, 7 miles (11 km) from Palakkad in the state of Kerala in southern India.

While serving as a U.N. delegate in Korea in 1950, he was killed (with journalists Christopher Buckley and Ian Morrison) by a land mine exploding under their jeep.

Colonel Nayar’s early promise in journalism reached destination during the Second World War in which he saw duty on many fronts.

On the outbreak of hostilities in Korea, he volunteered for service there and the Government of India selected him to serve as an alternate Delegate on the U.N. Korean Commission.