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A career diplomat, Mrs. K. Nandini Singla joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1997. She has a Master’s degree in Political Science and International Relations from Bombay University and an M.Phil. in Diplomatic Studies from Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. She hails from Karnataka and speaks Kannada, Hindi, English, and French.
She joined as Director General, Indian Council for Cultural Relations on 21st November, 2024 after serving as High Commissioner of India to Mauritius from December 2020 to November, 2024. Prior to that, Mrs. K. Nandini Singla served as the Ambassador of India to Portugal from July 2016 to December 2020. From April 2015-June 2016, she was Joint Secretary (Europe West) at the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi, handling India's relations with the European Union, UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Portugal, Luxembourg, Ireland, Monaco, and Andorra.
Before this, from March 2012 to April 2015, she worked as Director in the Ministry’s Americas Division dealing with India's relations with the USA and Canada. Mrs. Nandini Singla also served as First Secretary/Counsellor (Economic) at the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations in Geneva from 2009 to 2011, handling multilateral trade and economic issues such as intellectual property rights, trade and development, South-South cooperation, and global internet governance.
Her published articles include "From World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to World Innovation Promotion Organization? Whither WIPO?" in the WIPO Journal: Analysis of Intellectual Property Issues (2011, Vol. 3, Issue 1); and "Issues and Challenges in Modern Peace Operations," co-authored with Ambassador B.S. Prakash in the IDSA journal Strategic Analysis (2005, Vol. 29). She also presented a policy paper on Global Internet Governance at the U.N. Commission on Science and Technology for Development in Geneva in July 2011.
Ambassador Singla is an ASPEN Fellow and Fellow of the India Leadership Initiative of the Ananta Aspen Centre. She was awarded the Prime Minister's Silver Medal as “All India Best NCC Cadet' in the Senior Cadets category in 1990 and represented India in the NCC Youth Exchange Programme with Canada in 1991-92.
She is married to Sanjeev Singla, a fellow diplomat in the Indian Foreign Service who is currently India’s Ambassador to Israel. A mother of two sons aged 23 and 19, she enjoys nature, movies, walking, outdoor activities, spirituality, and spending time with her golden retriever dog.
