About Shashi Tharoor

Shashi Tharoor is an author, politician, and former international civil servant who straddles several worlds of experience. Currently a second-term LokSabha Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Thiruvananthapuram constituency and Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, he previously served as Minister of State for Human Resource Development and Minister of State for External Affairs in the Government of India. During his nearly three-decade long prior career at the United Nations, he served as a peacekeeper, refugee worker, and administrator at the highest levels, serving as Under-Secretary General during Kofi Annan’s leadership of the organisation. Dr. Tharoor is also an award-winning author of fifteen books.

Dr. Tharoor was educated in India and the United States, completing a PhD in 1978 at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at the Tufts University. In 1998 the World Economic Forum in Davos named him a “Global Leader of Tomorrow”. He is also a recipient of several awards that include India’s highest honour for overseas nationals, the "New Age Politician of the Year”, the Hakim Khan Sur Award for National Integration, and the Priyadarshini Award for Excellence in Diplomacy.