- Sunday, April 28, 2024
The veteran diplomat may contest the upcoming general elections from the constituency of Amritsar in the northern state of Punjab, said reports.
By: Twinkle Roy
FORMER Indian ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, on Tuesday (19) joined India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at an event held at the party’s headquarters in New Delhi. Some of the Hindu nationalist party’s top officials, including general secretaries Vinod Tawde and Tarun Chugh, were present on the occasion.
The 60-year-old former diplomat, who stepped down as the envoy to Washington in January, may contest the upcoming general elections in Amritsar constituency of the northern state of Punjab against Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal of the state’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party, news agency Press Trust of India reported.
Sandhu, who played a key role in deepening India-US relations during his four-year stint as the diplomat, thanked prime minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah, external affairs minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and the BJP’s national president JP Nadda at the time of joining the party. He also spoke about the growth of the India-US ties and development as the focus area of the Modi government.
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The BJP announced Sandhu’s joining in a post on X.
Former Ambassador of India to the United States Shri Taranjit Singh Sandhu joins the BJP at party headquarters in New Delhi. https://t.co/lWrLYkmcRv
— BJP (@BJP4India) March 19, 2024
“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…,” Sandhu, who was the Indian high commissioner to Sri Lanka before serving in the US, said.
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He also tweeted about the new stint, saying, “Honoured to become part of @BJP4India, a party committed to the nation’s growth & progress. Grateful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi @narendramodi, Party President J.P. Nadda @JPNadda, Home Minister Shri Amit Shah @AmitShah and Minister for External Affairs Dr. S. Jaishankar @DrSJaishankar for encouraging & welcoming me to become a partner in contributing to India’s bright future & development of Amritsar!”
Honoured to become part of @BJP4India, a party committed to the nation's growth & progress. Grateful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi @narendramodi, Party President J.P. Nadda @JPNadda , Home Minister Shri Amit Shah @AmitShah and Minister for External Affairs Dr. S. Jaishankar… pic.twitter.com/zVWLet88Z1
— Taranjit Singh Sandhu (@SandhuTaranjitS) March 19, 2024
The experienced diplomat was also the Indian consul general in Frankfurt, Germany, between 2011 and 2013. He had also served in the Indian ministry of external affairs in various capacities; as the joint secretary (United Nations) between March 2009 and August 2011; and later as the joint secretary (administration) heading the human resource division.
Taranjit Singh Sandhu, whose wife Reenat Sandhu is also a veteran diplomat, had joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1988.
(with PTI inputs)
