Vengalil Krishnan Krishna Menon was an Indian academic, politician, and statesman described as the second most powerful man in India after the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, with whom he shared an intimate friendship, Before, during, and after India's independence, until his political collapse in 1962, Menon stood at the forefront of India's foreign relations, acknowledged domestically and internationally as India's de facto foreign minister and foreign policy architect, and acted as Nehru's personal plenipotentiary, capable of speaking with Nehru's voice and authority. Pre-1947, Menon led and represented the India League and broader Indian independence movement in London, advocating Indian independence before both the British parliament and public; towards the end of the 1940s, he became a dominant figure in Indo-British matters, even selecting the last British Viceroy of India, Earl Mountbatten of Burma, with whom he had long been friends.