Hardeep Singh Puri Age, Caste, Wife, Children, Family, Biography & More

Bio/Wiki
Profession(s)	Politician & Former IFS Officer
Physical Stats & More
Height (approx.)	in centimeters- 175 cm in meters- 1.75 m in feet & inches- 5’ 9”
Eye Colour	Black
Hair Colour	Salt & Pepper
Civil Service
Service	Indian Foreign Service (IFS)
Batch	1974
Diplomatic Journey	• Third Secretary (Language Trainee) and Second Secretary (Political & Commercial) in the Embassy of India, Tokyo from 1976 to 1978 • Undersecretary in the Ministry of External Affairs from 1979 to 1981 • First Secretary of Permanent Mission of India to GATT, Geneva from 1984 to 1988 • Coordinator of the UNDP/UNCTAD Multilateral Trade Negotiations Project to help developing countries in the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations from 1988 to 1991 • Director (Foreign Secretary's Office) in the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India from 1991 to 1992 • Joint Secretary (Americas) in the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India from 1992 to 1994 • Joint Secretary to the Government of India in the Ministry of Defence from 1994 to 1997 • Joint Secretary (Europe West) in the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India from 1997 to 1999 • Ambassador/Deputy High Commission of India to the United Kingdom from 1999 to 2000 • Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva from 2002 to 2005 • Ambassador of India to Brazil from 2006 to 2008 • Secretary (Economic Relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India from 2008 to 2009 • Ambassador & Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations, New York from May 2009 to March 2013 • Chairman of the United Nations Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee from January 2011 to February 2012 • President of the United Nations Security Council in August 2011 and November 2012 • Retired as an IFS officer on 28 February 2013
Politics
Political Party	Bharatiya Janata Party (January 2014-Present)
Political Journey	• Joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in January 2014 • Elected as a Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) from Uttar Pradesh in by-elections in January 2018 • Appointed as the Minister of State in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and Ministry of Commerce and Industry in September 2017 • Contested the 2019 General election from Amritsar constituency as a BJP candidate and lost to Gurjeet Singh Aujla of the Congress • Elected as the Rajya Sabha member from Uttar Pradesh in 26 November 2020 • Appointed as the Minister of State (with Independent Charge) for Civil Aviation from 30 May 2019 to 7 July 2021 • Appointed as the Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs during the Cabinet reshuffle in July 2021
Personal Life
Date of Birth	15 February 1952 (Friday)
Age (as of 2022)	70 Years
Birthplace	Delhi, India
Zodiac sign	Aquarius
Signature
Nationality	Indian
Hometown	Delhi, India
School	The Frank Anthony Public School, Delhi
College/University	Hindu College, University of Delhi
Educational Qualification(s)	• Bachelor of Arts in History [1]Hardeep Singh Puri - About • Master of Arts in History (1973) [2]Hardeep Singh Puri - About
Religion	Sikhism [3]The Times of India
Caste	Khatri [4]Hardeep Singh Puri - Wikipedia
Address(es)	Permanent: B-17, First Floor, Westend Colony, Rao Tula Ram Marg, New Delhi 110057 Current: Ro- 6 Akbar Road New Delhi -110011
Controversies	• In July 2021, Santanu Sen, an All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) MP (Rajya Sabha), accused Hardeep of physically assaulting him during a Rajya Sabha session. According to Santanu, when Santanu snatched and tore paper from Ashwini Vaishnaw's hands, Puri gave him rude gestures. [5]Deccan Herald During a press conference, Sen said, "The union minister (Puri) threatened and abused me. He was about to assault me when my other colleagues came to my rescue." • In June 2021, activist and journalist Saket Gokhale tweeted about a property purchased by Hardeep's wife (Lakshmi) in Switzerland, raising doubts regarding the assets of Hardeep Singh Puri and his wife. In the tweet, he tagged Nirmala Sitharaman and demanded an enquiry by the Enforcement Directorate. In his tweet, he wrote, "If an ex-Indian civil servant who’s with the BJP bought an overseas house worth $2 million (with no income other than salary) while in service, will ED investigate it?" After the tweet went viral, Puri's wife filed a defamation suit against Saket at the Delhi High Court, asking him to delete the tweet and seeking Rs. 5 crore damages from him. In the early July hearing, the high court asked Saket to delete the tweet, which he refused. In the mid-July 2021 hearing, the high court demanded Saket to delete the tweet and also directed Twitter to take down the tweets if Saket did not do it. [6]The Wire • In June 2021, he courted controversy when he called out Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi and accused the Congress government in Punjab and Rajasthan of extortion by selling Covid-19 vaccines to private hospitals, demanding an investigation into the matter. Puri went on to accuse the Gandhi family of condemning the Modi government over vaccine supply when their government was indulged in the alleged profiteering. Hardeep did not stop there, and he ranted about Congress fueling vaccine hesitancy and spreading lies over the 2020 Indian agriculture acts. [7]The Telegraph • In January 2021, Hardeep Sing Puri slammed the politicians Akhilesh Yadav, Jairam Ramesh, and Shashi Tharoor via Twitter after they raised questions regarding the approval given to Bharat Biotech’s vaccine while its third phase trial was ongoing. In his tweet, Puri wrote, "Our in-house cynics M/s Jairam, Tharoor & Akhilesh are behaving true to form. They first questioned the valour of our soldiers & are now unhappy that the two vaccines to get DCGI nod are made in India. Clearly they are on a quest for permanent political marginalization." After Hardeep's tweet, Jairam tweeted back by referring him (Puri) to the two politicians close to Adolf Hitler. [8]Hindustan Times Jairam Wrote, "So says the in-house Goebbels-cum-Albert Speer" • In early July 2021, Priyanka Gandhi was asked to vacate her government accommodation at 35 Lodhi Estate, which was provided to her as a Special Protection Group (SPG) protectee, by the Union Government within a month. Upon receiving the notice, Priyanka agreed to leave the accommodation within the said time. However, several Congress leaders were in opposition of it, dubbing it a 'frustated attempt' of the Union Government. In mid-July, media reports regarding her request for the extension of her stay at the residence surfaced, which Priyanka refuted on Twitter. In response to Gandhi's tweet regarding her refutal, Hardeep Singh Puri tweeted, "Facts speak for themselves! A powerful Congress leader with much clout in the Party called me on 4 July 2020 at 12:05 pm to request that 35, Lodhi Estate be allotted to another INC MP so that Priyanka Vadra can stay on." In her response to Puri's claim, Priyanka tweeted, "If someone called you Mr Puri, I thank them for their concern, and thank you for your consideration as well but it still does not change the facts: I have made no such request, and I am making no such request. As I said, I will be vacating the house by the 1st of August..1/2" Their bickering did not end, as Hardeep tweeted that a person on the top of Congress hierarchy called Puri on her family's behalf, and in good faith, the government decided to extend her two-month stay at the residence. [9]The Statesman • In November 2019, while campaigning for BJP for the 2020 Delhi Legislative Assembly election, Hardeep Singh Puri said that BJP would win the election to make Manoj Tiwari the Chief Minister. In his speech, he said, "Manoj Tiwari ke netritwa mein hum election ladne ja rahe hain aur inko hum chief minister bana kar hi chorenge" "Translation: Under the leadership of Manoj Tiwari, we are going to contest Assembly elections and we will ensure that he becomes the chief minister)." Following his statement, several Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders began trolling BJP by congratulating Tiwari on Twitter for having declared a chief ministerial candidate for Delhi. In his explanation of the statement, he said that BJP was looking forward to winning the elections under Tiwari's leadership as he was the Delhi BJP President. [10]The New Indian Express In his tweet, he wrote, "BJP is moving towards a victory in Delhi. The party has not named anyone as the CM face. Shri Manoj Tiwari is the Delhi BJP president. The party is working enthusiastically under his leadership. My statement meant that BJP will win the upcoming elections with a heavy majority under his leadership." • On 17 August 2022, hours after his tweet about shifting Rohingya migrants from Myanmar to EWS flats in Delhi, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued a strong denial and said that no such provision for Rohingyas were planned by the ministry. [11]The Hindu
Relationships & More
Marital Status	Married
Family
Wife/Spouse	Lakshmi Murdeshwar Puri (IFS; former Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Deputy Executive Director of UN Women)
Parents	Father- Bhagat Singh Puri (IFS officer) Mother- Kundan Puri
Children	He has two daughters.
Siblings	Brother- Pradeep Puri (IAS officer of the 1979 batch)
Favourites
Restaurant	Pindi Restaurant in Delhi
Politician	Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Poet	Maithili Sharan Gupt
Singer	Lata Mangeshkar
Novelist	Toni Morrison
Style Quotient
Car Collection	Honda City SVMT
Money Factor
Salary (approx.)	Rs. 1.96 crore (for the year 2017-2018) [12]Hardeep Singh Puri - MyNeta
Assets/Properties	As of 2019, his movable assets (including bank deposits, bonds, debentures, shares, and jewellery) was Rs. 5.31 crore, and his immovable assets were Rs. 28.72 crore. [13]Hardeep Singh Puri - MyNeta
Net Worth (approx.)	Rs. 34.05 crore (as of 2019) [14]Hardeep Singh Puri - MyNeta

Some Lesser Known Facts About Hardeep Singh Puri

• Hardeep Singh Puri is an Indian politician and former Indian Foreign Service officer. In July 2021, he became the Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs in India.

• In an interview, Puri confessed that his grandfather was among those who protested at Jallianwala Bagh in 1919.

• In the same interview, he claimed that his father was a partition refugee and was one of the persons who took the Frontier Mail from Pakistan to Amritsar in 1947. While talking about his father in an Instagram post, he said,
  

  Being a partition refugee he started his life from a scratch & faced great difficulties. A source of strength & a role model, he sacrificed his comforts to give my younger brother & me a decent education & life.”

  

  Hardeep Singh Puri’s father

• His childhood dream was to become a pilot, but he could not fulfil his dreams as he joined the IFS. In an Instagram post, he wrote,
  

  Sitting in a state-of-the-art & as real as it gets flight simulator of a prototype of 777x at the CAE Facility, I got an exhilarating opportunity to live a part of my childhood dream! Tough job but!”

  

  A childhood picture of Hardeep Singh Puri with his parents

• While pursuing his studies at the Hindu College, he won many university prizes. He was also the Prime Minister of the college Student Parliament from 1971 to 1972.

• After his post-graduation, Puri taught History at St. Stephen’s College, the University of Delhi.

• In 2013, he retired from the Indian Foreign Service and joined as the Senior Advisor at the International Peace Institute (IPI), New York, an independent non-profit lobby group that specialises in multilateral approaches to peace and security issues. He worked there from June to December 2013. Subsequently, Puri served as the Vice President at IPI, a position he left on 31 March 2016.
  

  Hardeep Singh Puri during a talk session at the International Peace Institute (IPI)

• He also served as the Secretary-General of the Independent Commission on Multilateralism (ICM) till April 2016.

• He is a writer who has written articles in many publications. He wrote an article titled ‘Libya: Hillary Clinton, Susan Rice and the Ghost of Rwanda’ (2016) for The Globalist and ‘Trade Policy Dilemma and the Role of Domestic Reform’ for Carnegie India.

• In 2016, he penned the book ‘Perilous Interventions: The Security Council and the Politics of Chaos,’ which was published by HarperCollins.
  

• Puri gave a public discourse on the topic ‘India and the Western Liberal Democratic Order’ at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi, in 2017.

• In March 2017, Hardeep was commissioned at the Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS) as the President of the Governing Body and Chairman of the Governing Council.
  

  Hardeep Singh Puri during an interactive session organised by the Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS)

• In 2018, he became the author of another book titled ‘Delusional Politics: Back To The Future,’ which was published by Viking Press.
  

• Hardeep Singh Puri and the Indian politician and attorney Arun Jaitley were close friends. They met for the first time around 1970-71 when Puri was in the final year of his college, and Jaitley was in the first year at Shri Ram College of Commerce. Puri and Jaitley were part of the debating circuit at Delhi University. They often challenged each other in the university discourses. Their friendship remained even after Puri took the path of diplomacy and Arun politics. In his Instagram post, he wrote about Arun,
  

  Even as a young student he was full of ideas & had great political acumen. He did well in his chosen profession. He emerged as a ‘go to’ person in his long political career & had contacts across party lines.”

  

  Hardeep Singh Puri with Arun Jaitley

• In his leisure time, Hardeep likes travelling and reading.