Veteran diplomat Taranjit Singh Sandhu, who previously served as India’s Ambassador to the United States, has joined the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) as Advisor to the Board and will also serve as the Chairman of the newly established USISPF Geopolitical Institute.
In his new capacity, Ambassador Sandhu will provide strategic direction to the Forum’s geopolitical initiatives, particularly focusing on the India-Middle-East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), the Indo-Pacific Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad), and the I2U2 coalition comprising India, Israel, the United States, and the United Arab Emirates. Having concluded a distinguished 35-year diplomatic career in February 2024, Sandhu had previously played a crucial role in strengthening India-US bilateral relations. During his tenure in Washington, he was closely involved with USISPF and worked on deepening strategic collaboration between the two nations.
Expressing his enthusiasm about the new role, Ambassador Sandhu stated, “I am delighted to join the US India Strategic Partnership Forum 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 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.”
He further emphasised the significant role USISPF has played in fostering ties between the governments, businesses, innovators, and academic communities of both countries. Citing the India-US COMPACT initiative—shaped during the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former President Donald Trump—Sandhu highlighted its focus on defence, technology, energy, and trade as key areas of cooperation.
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As the Indo-Pacific region remains a central priority, Sandhu is expected to guide USISPF’s efforts in advancing the Quad agenda, involving enhanced cooperation among India, the United States, Japan, and Australia. This includes defence collaborations, vaccine diplomacy, energy partnerships, and development of critical and emerging technologies. Another major area of focus under his leadership will be infrastructure development, strengthening of supply chains, and economic corridors via initiatives like IMEC and I2U2—both of which gained momentum during his ambassadorship in Washington.
The deepening of India-US cooperation in sectors like energy, space, education, defence, and technology has marked the past decade under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership. Praising Sandhu’s appointment, Mukesh Aghi, President and CEO of USISPF, said, “The most important strategic partnership of the 21st century, one between Washington and New Delhi, requires the art of deft diplomacy and sagacious statecraft. New Delhi has always sent its brightest minds to Washington, but few have come more experienced in understanding the contours of US-India relations than Ambassador Sandhu.” He added that Sandhu had forged critical relationships on Capitol Hill even during a challenging era of US-India relations in the 1990s, following sanctions from the Clinton administration.
USISPF, a non-profit and non-partisan organisation headquartered in Washington with a presence in New Delhi, is dedicated to strengthening strategic and economic ties between India and the United States.
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