Chair of India's Delegation to United Nations

Mrs. Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, Governor of the State of Maharashtra, is heading the Indian delegation to the United Nations for the fifth time at the current 18th session of the General Assembly. She was the first, and to date the only woman to be the President of the UN General Assembly in 1953. She has held the posts of Ambassador in Moscow (1947-1949); Ambassador in Washington (1947-1951); High Commissioner in London (1954-1961); and led India's delegation to the UN in 1947, 1948, 1952 and 1953. Mrs. Pandit has had a long career in Indian politics. Indian and foreign universities have conferred some eleven honorary doctorate degrees on her, and other institutions have given her awards for her work in the social and international fields. She is the daughter of Motilal Nehru, eminent lawyer and a leader of India's Freedom Movement, and the sister of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Mrs. Pandit was married in 1921 to Ranjit S. Pandit, a barrister and eminent scholar, who died in 1942. Mrs. Pandit has three daughters, Chnadralekha, Nayantara and Rita, who are all married.

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