Dutchhoek11: entry.

2026-04-13T20:28:57Z

entry.

New page

{{short description|Indian diplomat and former High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2025}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2025}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image =
| office1 = Ambassador of India to Malaysia
| term_start1 = 2000
| term_end1 = 2003
| predecessor1 = [[P. S. Sahai]]
| successor1 = [[R. L. Narayan]]
| office2 = [[List of high commissioners of India to Bangladesh|High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh]]
| term_start2 = 2003
| term_end2 = 2006
| predecessor2 = [[M. L. Tripathi]]
| successor2 = [[Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty]]
| occupation = [[Indian Foreign Service]]
| children =
| party =
| alma_mater =
| profession =
| spouse =
| sibling =
| website =
| honorific_suffix = [[Indian Foreign Service|IFS]]
| honorific_prefix = [[Her Excellency]]
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1948|10|27|df=yes}}
}}
'''Veena Sikri''' is a retired Indian diplomat, academic, and former [[List of high commissioners of India to Bangladesh|High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Clarifying stance on Bangladesh not unusual: Veena Sikri |url=https://businesspostbd.com/economy/clarifying-stance-on-bangladesh-not-unusual-veena-sikri |access-date=2024-08-05 |website=businesspostbd.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Ambassador-Veena-Sikri--calls-on-DU-VC |url=https://www.du.ac.bd/du_post_details/Ambassador-Veena-Sikri--calls-on-DU-VC/12083 |access-date=2024-08-05 |website=du.ac.bd |language=en}}</ref> a role that she is the only woman to have performed.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |title=Think out of the box: Veena Sikri |url=https://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/think-out-of-the-box-veena-sikri |access-date=2024-08-05 |work=bdnews24.com |language=en}}</ref> She is a professor at [[Jamia Millia Islamia]], a university in New Delhi.<ref name=":0" />

== Early life ==
Sikri graduated from [[St. Mary's School, Pune]] in 1963.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=CURRICULUM VITAE OF PROFESSOR VEENA SIKRI |url=https://jmi.ac.in/upload/employeeresume/vsikri.pdf |access-date=5 August 2024 |website=[[Jamia Millia Islamia]]}}</ref> She completed her bachelor's degree in statistics from the [[University of Pune]] in 1967.<ref name=":1" /> She completed her masters of economics from [[Delhi University]] in 1970.<ref name=":1" />

==Career==
Sikri joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1971.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Veena Sikri |url=https://www.pata.org/speakers/veena-sikri |access-date=2024-08-05 |website=Pacific Asia Travel Association |language=en-US}}</ref> From 1977 to 1981, she was stationed at the [[Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations]].<ref name=":2" />

From 1989 to 1992, Sikri was the Director General of the [[Indian Council for Cultural Relations]].<ref name=":2" />

Sikri was the Consul General of India in Hong Kong from 1996 to 2000.<ref name=":2" />

From 2000 to 2003, Sikri was the High Commissioner of India to Malaysia.<ref name=":2" /> She was appointed the High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh in 2003.<ref name=":2" /> She resigned from the Indian Foreign Service on 26 September 2006 after her junior [[Shiv Shankar Menon]] was appointed Foreign Secretary of India by Prime Minister [[Manmohan Singh]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |date=2020-09-14 |title=Things Veena Sikri did not mention in her article |url=https://www.tbsnews.net/thoughts/things-veena-sikri-did-not-mention-her-article-132607 |access-date=2024-08-05 |work=The Business Standard |language=en}}</ref> Her husband Rajiv Sikri. also an officer of the same batch as her, resigned from the Indian Foreign Service for the same reason earlier.<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=9 September 2006 |title=Age of unrest in foreign office |url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/age-of-unrest-in-foreign-office/cid/770024 |access-date=5 August 2024 |work=[[The Telegraph (India)]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2006-09-26 |title=Superseded by Menon, IFS babus quit |url=https://www.news18.com/news/india/superseded-by-menon-ifs-babus-quit-247644.html |access-date=2024-08-05 |work=News18 |language=en}}</ref>

From 2008 to 2011, Sikri was a visiting researcher at the [[Institute of Southeast Asian Studies]] based in Singapore.<ref name=":2" /> She is the Vice Chairperson of the India chapter of the [[South Asia Foundation]].<ref name=":2" /> She co-edited ''Contemporarising Tagore and the World'' with [[Muchkund Dubey]] and [[Imtiaz Ahmed (academic)|Imtiaz Ahmed]].<ref name=":2" />

Sikri is the chairperson of the Bangladesh Studies program at the Academy of International Studies of [[Jamia Millia Islamia]] and endowed by the [[Ford Foundation]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Author Page |url=https://uplbooks.com/editor/veena-sikri-318 |access-date=2024-08-05 |website=The University Press Limited |language=en-US}}</ref> She is the convenor of South Asia Women Network.<ref name=":3" /> In 2014, she credited Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for removing terrorism from Bangladesh and called for out of the box thinking for removing problems between India and Bangladesh.<ref name=":0"/>

In January 2024, Sikri said [[Bangladesh Nationalist Party]] boycotting the general election would not harm the legitimacy of the election.<ref>{{Cite news |date=8 January 2024 |title=Bangladesh election: BNP's boycott won't affect legitimacy of Hasina's win |url=https://en.somoynews.tv/news/2024-05-21/over-30-votes-cast-in-2nd-phase-upazila-polls-cec |access-date=5 August 2024 |publisher=[[Somoy TV]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Polls boycott in Bangladesh no cause for alarm: Sikri |url=https://businesspostbd.com/world/south-asia/polls-boycott-in-bangladesh-no-cause-for-alarm-sikri |access-date=2024-08-05 |website=businesspostbd.com |language=en}}</ref> She appreciated the Indian government maintaining a neutral position during the 2024 Quota reform movement in Bangladesh.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=2024-08-04 |title=Bangladesh quota conundrum is also India's overriding concern |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india-today-insight/story/bangladesh-quota-conundrum-is-also-indias-overriding-concern-2576693-2024-08-04 |access-date=2024-08-05 |magazine=India Today |language=en}}</ref>

== Personal life ==
Sikri's husband, Rajiv Sikri, was also a diplomat of India.<ref name=":1" />

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sikri, Veena}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:High commissioners of India to Bangladesh]]
[[Category:High commissioners of India to Malaysia]]
[[Category:1948 births]]
[[Category:Savitribai Phule Pune University alumni]]
[[Category:Delhi University alumni]]

Veena Sikri - Revision history

Dutchhoek11: entry.