23 men, 3 women have served as India’s top diplomat in the US capital since 1947.
Twenty-three men and three women have served as India’s ambassador to the United States since 1947. The first Indian ambassador in Washington was freedom fighter Asaf Ali, who served only a few months in the US capital. The longest-serving Indian envoy in the US capital was B.K. Nehru, who was in office for seven years. Here is the list of Indian ambassadors to the United States:
Ambassador | Years |
K. Asaf Ali | 1947 – 1948 |
Benegal Rama Rau | 1948 – 1949 |
Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit | 1949 – 1952 |
Gaganvihari L. Mehta | 1952 – 1958 |
M. C. Chagla | 1958 – 1961 |
B. K. Nehru | 1961 – 1968 |
Ali Yaver Jung | 1968 – 1970 |
L. K. Jha | 1970 – 1973 |
T. N. Kaul | 1973 – 1976 |
Kewal Singh | 1976 – 1977 |
Nani A. Palkhivala | 1977 – 1979 |
K. R. Narayanan | 1980 – 1984 |
K. Shankar Bajpai | 1984 – 1986 |
P. K. Kaul | 1986 – 1989 |
Karan Singh | 1989 – 1990 |
Abid Hussain | 1990 – 1992 |
S. S. Ray | 1992 – 1996 |
Naresh Chandra | 1996 – 2001 |
Lalit Mansingh | 2001 – 2004 |
Ronen Sen | 2004 – 2009 |
Meera Shankar | 2009 – 2011 |
Nirupama Rao | 2011 – 2013 |
Dr. S. Jaishankar | 2013 – 2015 |
Arun Kumar Singh | 2015- 2016 |
Navtej Sarna | 2017-2018 |
Harsh Vardhan Shringla | 2019-2020 |
Taranjit Singh Sandhu | 2020-2024 |
(This post was updated on March 31, 2024.)
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