https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Meera_ShankarMeera Shankar - Revision history2026-07-31T05:54:50ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Meera_Shankar&diff=262272&oldid=prev->Billjones94 at 06:14, 27 December 20212021-12-27T06:14:23Z<p></p>
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{{Infobox person<br />
| name = Meera Shankar<br />
| image = Meera Shankar at U.S.-India People to People Conference cropped.jpg<br />
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| caption = Meera Shankar at the U.S.-India People to People Conference in 2010<br />
| birth_name = Meera Yadav<br />
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1950|10|09}}<!-- {{Birth date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} for living people supply only the year with {{Birth year and age|YYYY}} unless the exact date is already widely published, as per [[WP:DOB]]. For people who have died, use {{Birth date|YYYY|MM|DD}}. --><br />
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{{Infobox officeholder | embed = yes<br />
| office = [[Ambassador of India to the United States]]<br />
| term_start = 2009<br />
| term_end = 2011<br />
| predecessor = [[Ronen Sen]]<br />
| successor = [[Nirupama Rao]]<br />
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'''Meera Shankar''' (''[[née]]'' '''Yadav''') served as India's Ambassador to the [[United States of America]]<ref>{{cite web|author=Meera shankar |url=https://news.google.com/news?hl=en&q=Meera+shankar&rlz=1R2GPEA_en&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=01ZeSvGKMoamNpvEvK4C&sa=X&oi=news_group&ct=title&resnum=10 |title=Meera shankar |date= |accessdate=2012-10-14}}</ref> from 26 April 2009<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.indianembassy.org/speeches_statements.php |publisher=Indian Embassy, Washington |date= |accessdate=2015-04-14 |title=Archived copy |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150415113601/https://www.indianembassy.org/speeches_statements.php |archive-date=15 April 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref> to 2011. She was India's second female ambassador to the United States of America, [[Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit|Vijaya Lakshmi Nehru Pandit]] being the first. She was succeeded by [[Nirupama Rao]] on August 1, 2011.<br />
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Shankar, an officer of the 1973 batch, was posted in [[Washington DC]] from 1991 to 1995. She succeeded Ambassador [[Ronen Sen]].<br />
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==Early life and career==<br />
Meera Shankar studied at [[St. Mary's Convent High School, Nainital|St. Mary's Convent]] in [[Nainital]] and then graduated from [[St. Bede's College, Shimla]] and joined the [[Indian Foreign Service]] in 1973.<br />
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Shankar served as Director in the [[Prime Minister of India|Prime Minister]]’s Office from 1985 to 1991, and in the [[Ministry of Commerce and Industry (India)|Ministry of Commerce and Industry]] from 1991 to 1995. While serving in the [[Ministry of External Affairs (India)|Ministry of External Affairs]], she headed two important divisions dealing with the [[SAARC|South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC)]] and relations with [[Nepal]] and [[Bhutan]].<br />
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Prior to 2009, she served as India's Ambassador in Berlin, Germany.<br />
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Shankar was the first serving diplomat to be posted in Washington in more than two decades after G.Shankar Bajpai. In 2003, she achieved the rank of Additional Secretary, she held the responsibility for the [[United Nations]] and International Security.<br />
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==Other activities==<br />
Shankar sits on the Board of Trustees of the Alfred Herrhausen Gesellschaft of [[Deutsche Bank]].<ref>[https://www.alfred-herrhausen-gesellschaft.de/en/kuratorium.htm Board of Trustees] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180820074542/https://www.alfred-herrhausen-gesellschaft.de/en/kuratorium.htm |date=20 August 2018 }} Alfred Herrhausen Gesellschaft of [[Deutsche Bank]].</ref> In 2012 she became the first woman on the board of directors of the Indian conglomerate [[ITC (company)|ITC]].<ref>{{cite news |first=Writankar |last=Mukherjee |url=http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-08-04/news/33035430_1_ssh-rehman-meera-shankar-itc|title= ITC inducts Meera Shankar in its board as the first women ever |date=4 August 2012 |accessdate=7 August 2017 |work=The Times Of India}}</ref><br />
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==Personal life==<br />
Shankar is married to Ajay Shankar, IAS officer of the 1973 batch. They have a daughter, Priya.<ref>{{cite news |first=Gail |last=Scott |url=http://www.washdiplomat.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7298:2011-03-29-17.. |title=Private Indian Couple Dedicates Careers to Public Service |newspaper=Washington Diplomat |date=28 March 2011 |accessdate=7 August 2017 }}</ref><br />
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==Controversies==<br />
Shankar was in the news after she went through a pat-down check at [[Jackson–Evers International Airport|Jackson–Evers]] airport in December 2010, joining the list of [[Detention and search of Indian VIPs at US airports|Indian VIPs who underwent frisking or quizzing at US airports]]. The incident led to diplomatic protests from India.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2010-12-11/news/27611311_1_ambassador-meera-shankar-mississippi-airport-indian-embassy |title=After pat-down, US pats Meera|newspaper=[[The Economic Times]]|date=11 December 2010|accessdate=13 March 2016}}</ref><br />
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==See also==<br />
* [[List of ambassadors to the United States]]<br />
* [[Embassy of India in Washington, D.C.]]<br />
* [[Harsh Vardhan Shringla]]<br />
* [[Navtej Sarna]]<br />
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==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
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==External links==<br />
{{Commons category}}<br />
* [http://asiasociety.org/video/policy-politics/new-era-us-india-relations-complete Video: Ambassador Meera Shankar on US-India Relations] Asia Society New York, Feb. 19, 2010<br />
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[[Category:1950 births]]<br />
[[Category:Indian diplomats]]<br />
[[Category:Living people]]<br />
[[Category:Ambassadors of India to the United States]]<br />
[[Category:Indian women diplomats]]<br />
[[Category:Ambassadors of India to Germany]]<br />
[[Category:Indian women ambassadors]]<br />
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