Who Is Taranjit Singh Sandhu? Former Indian Ambassador To US Becomes Delhi’s New LG

Last Updated:March 05, 2026, 11:45 PM IST

Before Washington, Taranjit Singh Sandhu served as India’s High Commissioner to Sri Lanka from January 2017 to January 2020.

Former Indian Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu. (File)

Former Indian Ambassador to the United States Taranjit Singh Sandhu has been appointed as the new Lieutenant Governor of Delhi. He succeeds Vinai Kumar Saxena, who has been moved to the role of LG of Ladakh.

A Distinguished Diplomatic Career

A 1988-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, Taranjit Singh Sandhu had a career spanning over 35 years that placed him at the centre of some of India’s most significant diplomatic engagements. His most prominent posting was as India’s Ambassador to the United States from February 2020 to January 2024- a tenure that covered the Covid-19 pandemic, a change of administration in Washington and, most notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US in 2023.

Before Washington, he served as India’s High Commissioner to Sri Lanka from January 2017 to January 2020. His earlier postings included Deputy Chief of Mission in Washington DC, Consul General in Frankfurt and a stint at India’s permanent mission to the United Nations.

Read more: Inside India’s Raj Bhavan Reset: Why The Centre Is Repositioning Governors Across Key States

After The IFS: Politics And Policy

Following his retirement from the Indian Foreign Service in early 2024, Taranjit Singh Sandhu joined the Bharatiya Janata Party and contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from the Amritsar constituency, finishing in third place. In July 2025, he joined the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum as an Advisor to the Board and Chairman of its Geopolitical Institute, a role that kept him engaged with the India-US strategic relationship he had spent years nurturing.

Family And Background

Taranjit Singh Sandhu comes from a family with deep roots in Punjab’s religious and academic history. He is the grandson of Sardar Teja Singh Samundri, a founding member of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee and the son of Bishan Singh Samundri, the founding Vice-Chancellor of Guru Nanak Dev University.

He was educated at The Lawrence School, Sanawar, followed by St. Stephen’s College in Delhi and Jawaharlal Nehru University. His wife, Reenat Sandhu, is herself a senior diplomat who has served as India’s Ambassador to the Netherlands and Italy.

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