New Delhi: Former ambassador to the US, a key figure involved in setting up India’s embassy in Ukraine following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and the grandson of a tall figure in India’s gurdwara reform movement — Taranjit Singh Sandhu joined the BJP Tuesday and is likely to contest from Amritsar, his hometown in Punjab.
Speaking to the media at the BJP headquarters in Delhi, Sandhu said: “In the last 10 years, I have worked closely under PM Modi’s leadership, especially in the relationship with the United States and Sri Lanka… PM Modi is development-focused… Development is much needed today and… this development should reach Amritsar too.”
A look at his posts over the last couple of months on X show an increased frequency in attending various events in and around Amritsar, from interacting with farmers to feasting on jalebis and gulab jamuns at the iconic Sharma Sweet Shop.
Exploring the streets of #Amritsar and couldn't resist indulging in some mouthwatering jalebis and gulabjamuns at iconic Sharma Sweet Shop! pic.twitter.com/jWBaXkzQpR
— Taranjit Singh Sandhu (@SandhuTaranjitS) February 25, 2024
In a bid to connect the Punjabi diaspora abroad with Indians in Amritsar, the former diplomat released a video with US-based entrepreneur Darshan Singh Dhaliwal last week, congratulating him for offering annual scholarships to 100 students from Amritsar in the US.
Dhaliwal, who last year received the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award — the highest honour for overseas Indians — was denied entry into India in October 2021, allegedly due to his involvement in the farmers’ protests.
Connecting the #punjabidiaspora to #Amritsar's development!
Appreciate the commitment of one of America’s prominent Punjabi entrepreneur Darshan Singh Dhaliwal. His announcement of scholarships for 100 students annually from Amritsar in #America and support improvement projects… pic.twitter.com/6hduIuei8Y
— Taranjit Singh Sandhu (@SandhuTaranjitS) March 10, 2024
Tenure as US envoy & dealing with Sikh extremism
Sandhu served as India’s ambassador to the US from 2020 to 2024, and managed the highs and lows in the bilateral relationship since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit last June to rising Sikh extremism abroad in the backdrop of the alleged murder plot against Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
Last November, Sandhu was heckled by a group of pro-Khalistan individuals while offering prayers at the Hicksville Gurdwara in New York’s Long Island. “You are responsible for the assassination of (Hardeep Singh) Nijjar,” said one heckler to Sandhu, in reference to Canada’s accusations that Indian agents were involved in the murder of Nijjar, another Sikh separatist.
On 23 January, during his farewell event at India House in Washington, Sandhu called relations between India and the US a “well-attended garden”, adding that though there are some challenges, the flowers continued to bloom.
“There are always some challenges that come, but at the end of the day, the flowers are blooming and increasing. Some of you who were here in 2016 will remember that when my Prime Minister addressed the US Congress, he used the words, ‘we have overcome the hesitations of history’. It has a deep meaning,” he had said at the event.
Sandhu’s departure from Washington was marked by a slew of messages from US officials praising his work as India’s ambassador to the country. For example, US President Joe Biden’s top national security aide Kurt Campbell called working with Sandhu “magic”.
American diplomat Atul Keshap, now head of the US-India Business Council (USIBC), called Sandhu a “star” who would be dearly missed. Rahul Gupta, who heads the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, called Sandhu one of the best diplomats of India.
Sikh roots & three major diplomatic postings
Sandhu was born on 23 January, 1963, in India and later studied at The Lawrence School, Sanawar. He graduated in history from St Stephens’ College, Delhi, and obtained a Master’s in International Relations at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).
He is a practising Sikh and the grandson of Teja Singh Samundri, who fought for the gurdwara reform movement (Chabiyan Da Morcha) in the 1920s.
Samundri was also a founding member of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), as well as a giant figure in India’s freedom struggle. He died in the Lahore Jail in 1926 while in British custody. There is a hall in the Golden Temple in Amritsar named after Sandhu’s grandfather.
Privileged to visit the Teja Singh Samundri Hall building within #SriHarmindarSahib complex in #Amritsar, named in memory of my grandfather. He died during the freedom struggle while under British custody in Lahore Jail in 1926.https://t.co/36Ru0hkfFN pic.twitter.com/g9NegdASXL
— Taranjit Singh Sandhu (@SandhuTaranjitS) August 26, 2023
Samundri was a member of the Congress Working Committee. He was elected as Vice President of the Congress in 1922. He was arrested during an Akali agitation and imprisoned in Amritsar Jail. He was later shifted to the Lahore Jail where he died. During that time, the SGPC and Shiromani Akali Dal were declared unlawful.
Sandhu joined the foreign services in 1988 and has served in the US, Sri Lanka and Germany in various capacities over his three-decade diplomatic career.
He served in the Permanent Mission of India to the UN, New York (2005-09), as Consul General of India in Frankfurt (2011-2013), Deputy Chief of Mission in Washington DC (2013-2017), High Commissioner to Sri Lanka (2017-2020) and ambassador to the US (2020-2024).
In the late 90s, he was First Secretary (Political) at the Embassy of India in Washington, DC, and was responsible for liaison with the US Congress from 1997 to 2000.
Reflecting on this time, while speaking at an event hosted by Hudson Institute in 2020, Sandhu said: “I was the Congressional Liaison Officer and at that time in ‘97, it was a very new setup.”
“From all my three postings, the posting in the United States is never dull. There’ll always be interesting challenges, but there are great opportunities. And as I mentioned to you from ’97 to now, where the relationship has come, but still there’s a lot that can be covered,” he had said.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
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