Romesh Bhandari (29 March 1928 – 7 September 2013) was an

Indian Foreign Secretary The foreign secretary of India (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''Videśa Saciva'') is the top diplomat of India and administrative head of the Ministry of External Affairs (India), Ministry of External Affairs. This p ...

, former Lieutenant Governor of

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

Andaman and Nicobar Islands The Andaman and Nicobar Islands is a union territory of India consisting of 572 islands, of which 37 are inhabited, at the junction of the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. The territory is about north of Aceh in Indonesia and separated f ...

, and former governor of

Tripura Tripura (, Bengali: ) is a state in Northeast India. The third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a population of 36.71 lakh ( 3.67 million). It is bordered by Assam and Mizoram to the east a ...

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

and

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

Career

Bhandari was born in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

, present day

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

, to Amar Nath Bhandari, a Punjab High Court Judge who was part of bench which decided Gandhi Assassination case. He joined the

Indian Foreign Service The Indian Foreign Service (IFS) is the diplomatic service and a central civil service of the Government of India under the Ministry of External Affairs. The Foreign Secretary is the head of the service. Vinay Mohan Kwatra is the 34th and the ...

(IFS) in 1950 as the Vice-Consul at the consulate in New York. He was minister in the Indian Embassy at Moscow from 1970 to 1971. He was the ambassador to

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

and Permanent Representative to

UN Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) is one of the five regional commissions under the jurisdiction of the United Nations Economic and Social Council. It was established in order to increase economic ...

from 1971 to 1974 and ambassador to

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

from 1974 to 1976. He then returned to the Ministry of External Affairs as Additional Secretary from February 1977 to July 1979. He was promoted as Secretary on 1 August 1979 and was appointed Foreign Secretary on 1 February 1985. He retired from service on 31 March 1986. He has the unique distinction of bringing back to India, hijackers of an Indian Airlines Aircraft from Dubai in 1984. He was the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi from 4 August 1988 to December 1989 and of Andaman and Nicobar islands from December 1989 to 24 February 1990. He was the governor of Tripura from 15 August 1993 to 15 June 1995, governor of Goa from 16 June 1995 to 18 July 1996 and governor of Uttar Pradesh from 19 July 1996 to 17 March 1998. Bhandari died on the night of 7 September 2013 after a prolonged illness.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhandari, Romesh Indian Foreign Secretaries People from Lahore 1928 births 2013 deaths Governors of Tripura Governors of Goa Governors of Uttar Pradesh Lieutenant Governors of Delhi Lieutenant governors of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Ambassadors of India to Iraq Ambassadors of India to Thailand Indian Foreign Service officers