Satinder Kumar Lambah (16 July 1941 – 30 June 2022), also known as Sati Lambah, was an Indian

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

of 1964 batch of

Indian Foreign Service The Indian Foreign Service (IFS) is a diplomatic service and a Central Civil Services, central civil service of the Government of India, Government of the Republic of India under the Ministry of External Affairs (India), Ministry of External A ...

cadre who served as the

Prime Minister of India The prime minister of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen Union Council of Ministers, Council of Ministers, despite the president of ...

's Special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan between 2005 and 2014. He is also known for building a Strategic partnership agreement with Russia when he was an envoy in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

between 1998 and 2001. Satinder Lambah was honoured with the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest state decoration, federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first List of president ...

for promoting

Germany–India relations Bilateral relations between the Republic of India and Germany have been traditionally strong due to commercial, cultural and technological co-operation. History Historic relations In 1407 CE, Romani people of Indian origin were recorded livin ...

in December 2015.

Early life

He was born in 1941 in

Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

(present-day in Pakistan).

Career

He joined the

in 1964. He spent more than four decades in a diplomatic career, working in several Indian missions worldwide. He has served as the Ambassador of India to Hungary from 1986 to 1989, High Commissioner of India to Pakistan from 1992 to 1995 and Ambassador of India to Germany from 1995 to 1998. From 1989 to 1991, he was the

Consul General A consul is an official representative of a government who resides in a foreign country to assist and protect citizens of the consul's country, and to promote and facilitate commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries. A consu ...

of India in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, USA. He has also held the post of India's Deputy High Commissioner (1978–81) and High Commissioner (1992–95) to Pakistan and also served as the Joint Secretary (Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran). While serving as the Ambassador of India to Hungary, Satinder K Lambah played an important role in the first export of an Indian car, Maruti to

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

. In 2001, he played a key role in Indian investments in the Russian oil field

Sakhalin-I The Sakhalin-I () project, a sister project to Sakhalin-II, is a consortium for production of oil and gas on Sakhalin, Sakhalin Island and immediately offshore. It operates three natural gas field, fields in the Okhotsk Sea: Chayvo, Odoptu, and ...

. He was appointed the Deputy Secretary-General of the 7th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement, which was held in

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

in March 1983. Later, he was the Coordinator of the

Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM; or) is a wiktionary:biennial, biennial summit meeting of the List of current heads of state and government, governmental leaders from all Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth nations. ...

in India. His specialization has been in

economic diplomacy Economic diplomacy is a form of diplomacy that uses the full spectrum of economic tools of a state to achieve its national interests. The scope of economic diplomacy can encompass all of the international economic activities of a state, including, ...

and dealing with neighbouring countries of India. He helped in setting up the Indian Embassy in

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

after the Liberation of Bangladesh from Pakistan. In August 2001, he retired from the

. After retirement, Satinder K Lambah chaired a Committee on the Reorganization of the Ministry of External Affairs and India's Missions Abroad. From November 2001 to July 2002, he served as the India's special envoy for Afghanistan. He was the Convener of the

National Security Advisory Board The National Security Council (NSC) (IAST: ''Rāṣṭrīya Surakṣā Pariṣad'') of India is an executive government body tasked with advising the prime Minister of India on matters of national security and foreign policy. It was establishe ...

(NSAB)

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

from 2004 to 2005. During 2011–12, he was co-chairman of the Task Force on National Security. In 2011, he was appointed the co-chairman of the Task Force on National Security, where he held office until 2012. In August 2015, he was elected as the chairman of the Ananta Aspen Centre, a not-for-profit think tank.

Honours

(2015)

Death

He died on 30 June 2022 at the age of 80 in

References

External links

“India Does Not Need Anyone To Give It An Afghan Role. It Has One By Virtue Of Its History.”
with ''

Outlook India ''Outlook'' is a weekly general interest English and Hindi news magazine published in India. History and profile ''Outlook'' was first issued in October 1995 with Vinod Mehta as the editor in chief. It is owned by the Rajan Raheja Group. Th ...

''
Manmohan Singh bequeathed a larger legacy than he inherited for a settlement on Kashmir: Satinder Lambah
with ''

The Economic Times ''The Economic Times'' is an Indian English-language business-focused daily newspaper. Owned by The Times Group, ''The Economic Times'' began publication in 1961 and it is sold in all major cities in India. As of 2012, it is the world's secon ...

''
Pakistan, India came close to ink Kashmir accord in 2007: Ex-envoy
at ''

Geo TV Jang Media Group (), also known as Geo Group, is a Pakistani media conglomerate and a subsidiary of Dubai-based company Independent Media Corporation. It has headquarters in Printing House, Karachi. It is the publisher of the Urdu language new ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Lambah, Satinder 1941 births 2022 deaths Indian Foreign Service officers High commissioners of India to Pakistan Ambassadors of India to Hungary Ambassadors of India to Germany Ambassadors of India to Russia Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany People from Peshawar