Former Indian envoy Taranjit Sandhu to head USISPF Geopolitical Institute

Former Indian Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu has joined the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) as Adviser to the Board and will be the Chairman of the USISPF Geopolitical Institute.

Sandhu would lend his diplomatic acumen to guide USISPF’s strategic engagements on the India-Middle-East-Europe-Economic Corridor (IMEC), the Indo-Pacific Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) and the I2U2 (India, Israel, USA, and UAE) initiatives, the USISPF said in a statement.

Sandhu worked closely with the USISPF during his four-year tenure in Washington and has overseen strengthening of US-India relations through his four stints in the United States, three of them in Washington, D.C.

The statement quoted Sandhu as saying, “I am delighted to join the USISPF as Chairman of its Geopolitical Institute. I have had the opportunity to work on as well as follow the India-US story for over three decades.”

The India-US relationship has evolved into a comprehensive global strategic partnership, underpinned by shared values and interests, matured in character and nurtured by the vibrant people-to-people ties between the two countries.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump have imparted renewed vigour through the India-US COMPACT that focuses on key sectors including defence, technology, energy and trade,” the USISPF statement said.

Sandhu, previously served in Washington as second in command to External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, who was then the serving Ambassador and Sandhu the Deputy Chief of Mission.

After retiring from service, Sandhu, a 1988-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, had unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha polls in 2024 from Amritsar on a BJP ticket.

The USISPF statement quoted Mukesh Aghi, president and CEO of USISPF, as saying, “Today, this relationship is the most defining partnership of the 21^st century and one that has been made possible with sagacious diplomats such as Sandhu, who have worked on strengthening ties from semiconductors to supply chains, energy to education and defence drones to diaspora dialogues.”.

With the Indo-Pacific a priority, Sandhu will lend to USISPF’s work in the Quad, as four democracies strengthen defence ties, vaccine diplomacy in healthcare, energy partnerships, and critical and emerging technology, Aghi said.

The USISPF is a non-profit, non-governmental and non-partisan organisation with offices in Washington, D.C., and New Delhi. USISPF members include global companies with a combined market valuation of over $10 trillion.