Shilendra Kumar Singh was an Indian Politician and also a former Governor of Rajasthan and Arunachal Pradesh. He was the acting Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court, Justice J M Panchal, administered the oath of office to Singh. Singh was also Indian Foreign Secretary as well. Before becoming the Governor of Arunachal Pradesh, Singh was secretary-general of a think tank in Delhi, the University of Pennsylvania Institute for the Advanced Study of India. Shilendra Kumar Singh became the Governor of Rajasthan in the year 2007 after he left his designation as Governor of Arunachal Pradesh. Shilendra Kumar Singh had mainly focused his attention on water and IT development. For him the areas of concern were the water supply and desertification.

Early Life of Shilendra Kumar Singh
Shilendra Kumar Singh was born on 24th January 1932. He was a scholar of St Johns College, Agra. He graduated from there with a Bachelor`s Degree in History, Sanskrit and Hindi. Singh also went to the Agra University and received a Master`s Degree in History and an LLB Degree. Later, he studied Persian and International Law at Trinity College, Cambridge.

Political Career of Shilendra Kumar Singh
Shilendra Kumar Singh initiated his career in the Indian Foreign Service in 1954. In Arunachal Pradesh, Singh advocated for the inner line permit and restricted area permit required for travel to Arunachal Pradesh to be eliminated. In February 1989, Singh was appointed Foreign Secretary of India. Singh was a member of the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations in New York from 1962-68. Shilendra Kumar Singh held various positions during his political career, such as Director of Foreign Trade from 1968-69, Official Spokesman of the Government of India from 1969-74, Ambassador to Jordan, Lebanon and Cyprus from 1974-1977 ambassador to Austria from 1982-1985, Ambassador to Afghanistan from 1977-1979 and Ambassador to Pakistan from 1985-89. Shilendra Kumar Singh also held the personal rank of Grade-I Ambassador, which is the highest in the Indian Foreign Service. In the year 1989, Singh became Foreign Secretary of India.

Shilendra Kumar Singh was also the President of the Group of 77. He also served as India`s Governor on the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna. Singh was a member of 19 Indian delegations to the UN General Assembly and the United Nations Commission on Human Rights as well. Shilendra Kumar Singh used to teach History at Agra University. Moreover, he was also a Visiting Professor and Member of the Academic Council of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

Personal Life of Shilendra Kumar Singh
Shilendra Kumar Singh was married to Manju Singh and had to sons together. His elder son, Shashank Singh, is an MBA from Harvard University and Kanishka Singh, his younger son, provides political support to Rahul Gandhi. Singh died at the age of 77, on 1st December 2009, due to illness.