Overview

• Lord Desai was cremated in India in early August following his death on July 29, prompting memorial gatherings among family, friends and colleagues
• He founded the London School of Economics’ Centre for the Study of Global Governance in 1993 and led it until 2003, shaping research on global policy
• His partnership with Amartya Sen and Mahbub ul Haq in creating the Human Development Index has left a lasting benchmark for measuring well-being worldwide
• Elevated to the House of Lords in 1991 as the first Labour peer of Indian origin, he resigned from the party in 2020 over antisemitism concerns and later sat as a crossbench advocate
• Peers and former students praise his authorship of more than 20 books and 200 articles and his warm mentorship that bridged UK–India academic and political communities