Mr. Taranjit Singh Sandhu, the Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of India in Washington and currently the charge d'affaires, has been appointed as the country's next High Commissioner to Sri Lanka.
A press release from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said Mr. Sandhu, an Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer of the 1988 batch, was expected to take up the assignment shortly.
Mr. Sandhu, 53, assumed charge as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of India in Washington D.C. on July 29, 2013. Prior to this, he was Consul General of India in Frankfurt from September 2011 to July 2013.
He also served as Joint Secretary (United Nations) and later as Joint Secretary (Administration) heading the Human Resource Department Division of MEA till August 2011.
An alumnus of the St Stephen's College in Delhi, Mr Sandhu had, in his early years in the IFS, served in the former Soviet Union and later as Head of Political and Administration in the Indian Embassy in Ukraine.
Mr. Sandhu served as Officer on Special Duty (Press Relations), Ministry of External Affairs from 1994 to March 1997.
In April 1997, Mr. Sandhu joined Embassy of India, Washington, as First Secretary (Political) responsible for liaison with the US Congress.
He served as Counsellor (Political) in the High Commission of India, Colombo from December 2000 to September 2004. He also served as Director (BSM) from September 2004 to July 2005 looking after Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Myanmar in Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi.
In July 2005, Mr. Sandhu joined the Permanent Mission of India to United Nations, New York, where he was India’s delegate to UN Committee on Peacekeeping; UN Committee on Information; UN Committee on Decolonization and Fourth Committee of UN General Assembly.
Born on 23 January 1963, Mr. Sandhu graduated with History Honors from St. Stephens' College, Delhi and later did Masters in International Relations at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
Mr. Sandhu is married to Mrs. Reenat Sandhu, who is Minister (Commerce) at the Embassy of India, Washington DC. They have two children.
(NetIndian)
