On 25 October 1948, Curt Max Prüfer, a former German diplomat, arrived in Delhi with his wife, son and a large inventory of 28 boxes. The Germans, it was clear, were setting up in Delhi for long term. Prüfer’s last foreign posting as a diplomat had been to Brazil, from where, as the Nazi ambassador, he had to flee on an espionage charge. He was slapped with a 20-year prison sentence in absentia.
He was now in Delhi on the invitation of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), which sought to use him to train the early batches of the Indian foreign service. The MEA had also arranged for him to teach at the University of Delhi, where Prüfer would occupy the country’s first Chair in International Affairs.