The High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom is the head of the High Commission of India to the United Kingdom. The High Commission is located at India House in London.

History

In 1919, a committee chaired by the Marquess of Crewe determined there existed the need to separate the agency work of the India Office from its other political and administrative roles, and recommended the transfer of all such work to "a High Commissioner for India or some similar Indian Governmental Representative in London." It was also felt popular opinion in India would view this as a step towards full Dominion status for India. The Government of India Act that same year upheld the recommendations of the committee, making provision for "the appointment of a High Commissioner by His Majesty by Order in Council, which might delegate to the official any of the contractual powers of the Secretary of State [for India] in Council, and prescribe the conditions under which he should act on behalf of the Government of India or any Provincial Government."

On 13 August 1920, King-Emperor George V issued the required Order in Council. Until India became independent in 1947, the post was styled High Commission for India. The first High Commissioner for India was Indian Civil Service officer Sir William Stevenson Meyer; the first of Indian origin was Sir Dadiba Merwanji Dalal. The High Commissioner enjoyed the same status as his counterparts from the British Dominions. Upon Indian independence, the post was given the present designation.

High Commissioners for India (1920–1947)

List of High Commissioner for IndiaAlso represented British Burma until 1937, when it became a Crown Colony separate from India Name Portrait Assumed office Left office Notes Sir William Stevenson Meyer GCIE, KCSI"Chapter XV- The High Commissioner for India" September 1920 October 1922 J. W. Bhore CBE October 1922 April 1923 (acting) Sir Dadiba Merwanji Dalal CIE April 1923 December 1924 First High Commissioner of Indian origin Sir Atul Chandra Chatterjee KCSI, KCIE"The British Empire - India and Dependencies: Government and Constitution," pg. 113, The Statesman's Year Book, 1926, Epstein. Macmillan. London 1926 1925 1931 Sir Bhupendra Nath Mitra KCSI, KCIE, CBE The Statesman's Year-Book, 71st Edition, pg 118, Macmillan & Co, 1934 1931 1936 Malik Sir Feroz Khan Noon KCSI, KCIE, Kt."The British Commonwealth - India and Dependencies: Government and Constitution," pg. 110, The Statesman's Year Book, 1938, Epstein. Macmillan. London 1938 1936 December 1941 Khan Bahadur Maulvi Sir Muhammad Aziz-ul-Haq CIE "The British Commonwealth - India and Dependencies: Government and Constitution," pg. 111, The Statesman's Year Book, 1942, Epstein. Macmillan. London 1942 December 1941 May 1943 Dewan Bahadur Sir Samuel Ebenezer Runganadhan"The British Commonwealth - India and Dependencies: Government and Constitution," pg. 112, The Statesman's Year Book, 1946, Epstein. Macmillan. London 1946 May 1943 April 1947 M. K. Vellodi CIE "The British Commonwealth - India and Dependencies: Government and Constitution," pg. 107, The Statesman's Year Book, 1947, Epstein. Macmillan. London 1946 April 1947 August 1947 (acting)

High Commissioners of India to the United Kingdom (1947–present)

List of former High Commissioners

Dominion of India (1947-1950)

List of former High Commissioners Name Portrait Assumed office Left office Notes V. K. Krishna Menon August 1947 26 January 1950

Republic of India (1950-present)

Name Portrait Assumed office Left office Notes V. K. Krishna Menon 26 January 1950 1952 First High Commissioner of the Republic of India (from 26 January 1950) B. G. Kher 1952 1954 Second Prime Minister of Bombay. Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit 1954 1961 First woman President of the United Nations General Assembly. M. C. Chagla 1962 1963 Earlier Chief Justice of Bombay High Court. Jivraj Narayan Mehta 1963 1966 First Chief Minister of Gujarat. S. S. Dhawan 1968 1969 Appa B. Pant 15 September 1969 12 October 1972 Braj Kumar Nehru 1973 1977 Earlier Ambassador of India to the United States. Served as Governor of seven Indian states over two decades. N. G. Gore 1977 1979 V.A. Seyid Muhammad 1980 1984 P. Mehrotra July 1984 December 1984 P. C. Alexander 1985 1987 Later Governor of Tamil Nadu and Governor of Maharashtra. Maharaja Krishna Rasgotra 1988 1990 Later Foreign Secretary of India. Kuldip Nayar March 1990 November 1990 Laxmi Mall Singhvi 1991 1997 Second longest tenure after K. V. Krishna Menon. Salman Haidar January 1998 July 1998 Later Foreign Secretary of India. Lalit Mansingh 1998 1999 Later Foreign Secretary of India. Nareshwar Dayal 2000 2002 Ronen Sen May 2002 April 2004 Later Ambassador of India to the United States. Kamalesh Sharma July 2004 January 2008 Later Commonwealth Secretary-General. Shiv Shankar Mukherjee January 2008 August 2009 Nalin Surie September 2009 August 2011 Jaimini Bhagwati February 2012 December 2013 Ranjan Mathai December 2013 December 2015 Later Foreign Secretary of India. Navtej Sarna January 2016 December 2016 Later Ambassador of India to the United States. Yashvardhan Kumar Sinha December 2016 October 2018 Current Chief Information Commissioner of India. Ruchi Ghanashyam November 2018 2 June 2020 She is the only second Woman High Commissioner to UK since 1947 after Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit Gaitri Issar Kumar 3 June 2020 30 June 2022Vikram Doraiswami22 September 202218 March 2026 Later Ambassador of India to China Periasamy Kumaran 13 May 2026Incumbent

References