Washington, DC–Taranjit Singh Sandhu, India’s new Ambassador to the United States, has presented his credentials to President Donald Trump at a special ceremony held in the White House.
The ceremony took place in the Oval Office on Thursday. The envoy was accompanied by his wife and peer Reenat Sandhu, currently serving as the Indian Ambassador to Italy.
According to a statement released by the Indian Embassy in Washington, Trump warmly welcomed Sandhu back to Washington and wished him success in his new role as New Delhi’s top diplomat in America.
President Trump also fondly recalled his friendship with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and their several interactions.
Ambassador Sandhu said in a statement that the vision and guidance provided by Prime Minister Modi and President Trump in the last three years have moved India and the United States towards greater strategic convergence.
Ambassador Sandhu affirmed his commitment to work towards strengthening strategic partnership between India and the United States, which is anchored in mutual trust and friendship, democratic values and people-to-people ties.
At the State Department, Alice Wells, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs, welcomed Sandhu back to Washington and said in a tweet that the new envoy was a “strong champion of US-India ties”.
Addressing a 200-plus strong gathering of senior US administration officials, lawmakers, business leaders, educators, Indian-American community activists including a good number of Sikhs, press and media persons, at his official residence in Washington, Thursday evening, Sandhu said: “It is like coming back home.”
Sandhu, who replaced Harsh Vardhan Shringla, had previously served as the deputy chief in the Indian embassy in Washington. (IANS & Wire Services)
