London, August 25: Kamalesh Sharma, Secretary-General of the Commonwealth and India’s former high commissioner to Britain, has been appointed as the new chancellor of the Queen’s University Belfast (QUB).
He succeeds Senator George Mitchell, who stepped down in March.
Sharma retired from the Indian Foreign Service in 2001.
From 2002 to 2004 he was the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative to East Timor. He was appointed India’s High Commissioner in London in 2004 before his election as Secretary-General of the Commonwealth in 2007.
Pro-Chancellor Sir David Fell, chair of the university’s governing body which made the appointment, said, “Kamalesh Sharma is a worthy successor to Senator Mitchell. He is an exceptional figure who has served his country at the highest level and whose leadership skills have been recognised by the 53 member states which make up the Commonwealth.”
“As High Commissioner in London, he cemented close links between Northern Ireland and India – it is a relationship which has resulted in India becoming the second largest inward investor in the Northern Ireland economy.”
–Agencies