{"record":{"aliases":[],"appointmentIds":["india-6535342c4ae9c4"],"appointmentsDataset":"https://chanceries.org/diplomats.json","archivalSources":[],"canonicalUrl":"https://chanceries.org/diplopedia/people/meera-shankar-aac60520a2/","countrySlug":"india","entityId":"https://chanceries.org/diplopedia/people/meera-shankar-aac60520a2/#person","eventIds":[],"expandedParagraphs":["Meera Shankar joined the Indian Foreign Service in July 1973. She spent six years in the prime minister's office before moving to Washington as minister for commerce in 1991. She subsequently led the Indian Council for Cultural Relations and foreign ministry divisions responsible for South Asian regional cooperation and relations with Nepal and Bhutan. In 2002 she took responsibility for UN affairs and international security.","After serving as ambassador to Germany, Shankar arrived in Washington in April 2009. In an interview that August she described an agenda extending beyond the civil nuclear agreement to trade, science and technology, energy, and environmental cooperation. She linked those priorities to economic recovery and India's need for a stable neighborhood.","Her Washington work also involved outreach to Latin America and the Caribbean. At the Organization of American States in February 2010, she explained India's expanding trade and investment in the region and discussed opportunities for closer engagement with representatives of member states."],"id":"india:meera shankar","identifiers":{},"legacyPersonIds":[],"legacyUrl":"https://chanceries.org/diplomat-aac60520a25936acbe71.html","name":"Meera Shankar","notes":[],"paragraphSources":[["shankar-brookings"],["shankar-brookings","shankar-interview"],["shankar-oas"]],"profileUrl":"diplomat-aac60520a25936acbe71.html","relatedEvents":[],"relatedPeople":[],"relationships":[],"researchStatus":"reviewed","reviewedOn":"2026-10-28","revision":"8bf33ff8b7d700f4","sources":[{"accessedOn":"2026-10-28","date":null,"id":"shankar-brookings","locator":"PDF page 26: Meera Shankar","publisher":"Brookings Institution","title":"Conference on US-India Economic and Financial Partnership: Speakers","type":"official-biography","url":"https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/0627_us_india_economic_and_financial_speakers.pdf"},{"accessedOn":"2026-10-28","date":"2009","id":"shankar-interview","locator":"Interview of 20 August 2009","publisher":"Journal of International Security Affairs / Columbia International Affairs Online","title":"“Priorities for Engagement”: An Interview with Ambassador Meera Shankar","type":"primary-record","url":"https://ciaotest.cc.columbia.edu/journals/jisa/v0i17/15.html"},{"accessedOn":"2026-10-28","date":"2010-02-18","id":"shankar-oas","locator":"Press release E-044/10","publisher":"Organization of American States","title":"OAS Hosts Ambassador of India to the U.S.","type":"primary-record","url":"https://www.oas.org/en/media_center/press_release.asp?sCodigo=E-044/10"},{"accessedOn":"","date":"Accessed 26 October 2026","id":"mission-a0e0b3afef06a979754b","locator":"","publisher":"","title":"Historical representation: British India","type":"Mission record","url":"https://2009-2017.state.gov/s/cpr/rls/94044.htm"},{"accessedOn":"","date":"Reviewed 21 October 2026","id":"mission-605c94568f7cef8b38d8","locator":"Official ambassador roster with year level tenures. Some chargés, acting heads, and representatives from 1946 remain undocumented.","publisher":"","title":"Previous Ambassadors","type":"Mission record","url":"https://indianembassyusa.gov.in/previousambassadors"},{"accessedOn":"","date":"Reviewed 21 October 2026","id":"mission-444ed9faddf3862b7619","locator":"Records Shankar’s leadership of the Indian Council of Cultural Relations and her earlier Washington service as Minister (Commerce) from 1991 to 1995.","publisher":"","title":"Ms Meera Shankar — biography and archived statements","type":"Mission record","url":"https://indianembassyusa.gov.in/speeches_statements"}],"topics":["economic diplomacy","cultural diplomacy","Latin America","regional cooperation"]},"schemaVersion":1}