India lost one of its most quiet but significant diplomatic figureheads recently, when Ambassador Satinder Lambah passed away on Thursday, 30th June 2022. My father, retired diplomat Mr. James Edwin, who worked directly with Mr. Lambah and enjoyed a long-standing friendship with him, commissioned this portrait as a gift to the family in their time of loss.
During a career that spanned 4 decades, Satinder Lambah served in numerous high-profile posts, including as Ambassador / High Commissioner to Hungary, Germany, Pakistan and Russia. Following his retirement from the foreign service, he was also responsible for conducting talks between the Indian and Pakistani governments behind the scenes (referred to as “back channel negotiations”) in the mid-2000s. To his credit, this period was marked by improving relations and relative peace between both nations.
It was during his assignment as Ambassador to Russia that Mr. Lambah and Dad worked together. My father has always spoken of him in the most glowing terms, and Ambassador Lambah considered Dad not just a colleague, but a bona fide member of their family. They worked at close quarters every single day for 2 whole years, and stayed in regular contact ever since, but I’ve never heard even one negative story about Mr. Lambah – which says a lot about his character.
And Dad was not alone in his praise of the man either – in numerous online articles peers, colleagues and subordinates alike have praised Ambassador Lambah for his professional and personal excellence, ready wit and humaneness.
It was an honour to complete this portrait, and I hope that in the coming years it will bring some measure of joy to those who remember and cherish him. Rest in peace, kind Sir, and thank you for your service to our nation.
SatindeR LAMBAH: IN MEMORIAM
- Satinder Lambah on Wikipedia
- ‘Best foreign secretary that India never had’, Satinder Lambah led back-channel talks with Pak – Nirupama Subramaniam, The Indian Express
- Satinder Lambah: An immeasurable loss to the nation and all who knew him – Ronen Sen, The Indian Express
- Satinder Lambah and his ten-point art of diplomacy – Sanjiv Arora, The Hindu
- ‘Sharp intellect, soul of discretion’ — Veteran diplomat Satinder Lambah passes away at 80 – Pia Krishnankutty, The Print