 He served as ambassador to Japan, United Kingdom, Thailand, Turkey, People's Republic of China and United States of America and was referred to by Nehru as "the best diplomat of the country".He entered politics at Indira Gandhi's request and won three successive general elections to the Lok Sabha and served as a Minister of State in the Union Cabinet under former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.Elected as the ninth Vice President in 1992, Narayanan went on to become President in 1997.