Amb. Lalit Mansingh

Ambassador Lalit Mansingh has served as India’s foreign secretary, ambassador to the United States and high commissioner to the United Kingdom. He has also been ambassador in the United Arab Emirates and high commissioner in Nigeria with concurrent accreditation to Benin, Chad and the Cameroons.

Ambassador Mansingh joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1963, securing the first position in the All India Civil Service Examination. After his initial posting in Geneva,he went on to serve as deputy chief of mission in the Indian Embassies in Kabul, Brussels, and Washington. At headquarters in Delhi, Ambassador Mansingh worked in a variety of assignments: as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Director General of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, Dean of the Foreign Service Institute and Secretary (West) in the Ministry of External Affairs.

Ambassador Mansingh is active in a number of international initiatives for conflict resolution, regional security and sustainable development. As a member of an international group of elder statesmen constituted by The Brookings, Stanford and New York University, he worked on a project entitled “Managing Global Insecurity” that resulted in a publication, “Power and Responsibility” in 2009. Ambassador Mansingh is also part of a number of Track II dialogues between India and its neighbours including Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal.

Ambassador Mansingh is associated with several international organizations such as Asia Pacific Leadership Network, Canberra; International Crisis Group, Brussels and International Advisory Committee, APCO Worldwide, Washington DC.

At India, Ambassador Mansingh is the President, Forum for Strategic Initiatives; Vice President, Indian Council for Cultural Relations; Prof Emeritus of the Foreign Service Institute at New Delhi and the Global Envoy for International Buddhist Confederation, New Delhi.