3 months ago
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Taranjit Singh Sandhu was appointed arsenic the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi connected Thursday (March 5 2026), by President Droupadi Murmu.
Mr. Sandhu volition beryllium replacing Vinai Kumar Saxena for the apical post.
Know each astir the erstwhile diplomat.
Early life
Taranjit Singh Sandhu was calved connected January 23, 1963, successful Punjab, into an influential Sikh household with heavy ties to spiritual and world history.
His gramps was Teja Singh Samundri, a salient state combatant and laminitis of the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabhandhak Committee(SGPC).
His father, Bishan Singh Samundri, was the founding Vice-Chancellor of the Guru Nanak Dev University and his mother, Jagjit Kaur Sandhu, was the main of the Government College for Women successful Amritsar.
Mr. Sandhu studied astatine The Lawrence School, Sanawar, earlier earning a Bachelor’s successful History from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi and a Master’s successful International Relations from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU)
Career successful the Indian Foreign Service
Mr Sandhu joined the Indian Foreign Service (I.F.S). successful 1988 and spent implicit 35 years successful antithetic postings
His vocation began with a posting to the Soviet Union (1990-1992). After its breakup, helium was tasked with mounting up the Indian Embassy successful Ukraine, serving arsenic the caput of its governmental and administrative wings from 1992 to 1994.
U.S. expert
Mr. Sandhu is considered 1 of India’s salient experts connected the U.S. and has served aggregate stints successful diplomatic positions successful the country.
First Secretary(Political): Mr Sandhu served arsenic the liaison to the U.S. Congress from 1997 to 2000.
Deputy Chief of Mission: Sandhu served successful this station from 2013 to 2017.
Indian Ambassador to the U.S.: Mr. Sandhu served successful this presumption from 2020 to 2024, during the important COVID-19 play and the authorities sojourn of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the state successful 2023.
He has besides served arsenic the High Commissioner to Sri Lanka(2017-2020) and Consul General successful Frankfurt (2011-2013).
Political life
After his retirement, Taranjit Siandhu joined the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) connected March 19, 2024.
He contested from the Amritsar constituency successful Punjab successful the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, but finished successful 3rd spot with astir 22.88% of the vote.
Mr. Sandhu was besides appointed arsenic the Chairman of the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum’s (USISPF) Geopolitical Institute.
