Sheel Kant Sharma was the ninth Secretary General of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), serving from 2008 to 2011. He is an expert on energy, and was formerly Indian envoy to Austria.
Master of Science (Nuclear Physics) from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mumbai (1971).Ph.D. (High Energy Physics) from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mumbai (1974).
Professional Background:
| July 1973 | ||
| 1976-77 | ||
| 1978-81 | ||
| 1981-82 | ||
| 1982-83 | Deputy Secretary (North), Ministry of External Affairs, dealing with Nepal and Bhutan. | |
| 1983-86 | First Secretary (Disarmament), Permanent Mission of India, Geneva and Alternate Representative of India to UN Conference on Disarmament. | |
| 1986-89 | ||
| 1989-91 | Director (United Nations Division) and Disarmament Head, Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi | |
| 1991-94 | Joint Secretary (South & Disarmament), Ministry of External Affairs in-charge of India's relations with ASEAN, Indo-China and South Pacific. | |
| 1994-2000 | Seconded to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna for the post of senior professional in External Relations & Policy Coordination Division, for a job as international civil servant. | |
| Sept.2000 - July 2003 | Returned to MEA in India as Joint Secretary (Disarmament & International Security Affairs), covering all disarmament issues, bilateral security dialogues and dialogues on nuclear non-proliferation, export controls and defence Cooperation, security forums such as ARF, CICA, UNSC and other ad hoc groupings on security issues such as Pugwash. | |
| July 2003 - July 2004 | Additional Secretary (International Organisations), Ministry of External Affairs with previous charge expanded to include other international organisations. | |
| 28 July 2004 - February 2008 | Ambassador of India to Austria and Permanent Representative of India to all international organisations in Vienna. | |
| 1 March 2008 - 28 February 2011 | Secretary General of SAARC. |