By Asia Samachar | India |
Former US Ambassador Taranjit Singh Sandhu has joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and is likely to be fielded by the party in Amritsar in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections 2024.
Sandhu, one of the most experienced Indian diplomats on US affairs, has been making his rounds in Amritsar lately, building up expectation of his move which eventually came on Tuesday (March 19).
“In the last 10 years, I have worked closely with PM Modi’s leadership, especially in relationship with the United States and Sri Lanka… PM Modi is development focussed… Development is very much needed today and… this development should reach Amritsar too. So, I thank the party president, the Prime Minister and the Home Minister who encouraged me for the new path of service to the nation that I am entering…,” he said.
Sandhu’s last two assignments were as ambassador to the US (February 2020 to January 2024) and High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka (January 2017 to January 2020).
He was no stranger to the US having served as the deputy chief of mission at Washington from July 2013 to January 2017.
A 1988-batch IFS officer, he also has the experience of working at the United Nations. He was posted as Joint Secretary (UN) from March 2009 to August 2011. He was also at the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations, New York, from July 2005 to February 2009.
Over the years, he has also served in the former Soviet Union (Russia), Ukraine and Germany.
Born on 23 Jan 1963, he studied at The Lawrence School, Sanawar, and graduated with History Honors from St. Stephens’ College, Delhi. He then took a post-graduate degree in International Relations at Jawaharlal Nehru University.
He is married to Reenat Sandhu, also an IFS officer, and has two children.
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