Mohammad Hamid Ansari (; born 1 April 1937) is an Indian bureaucrat and retired Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer who was the 12th vice president of India from 2007 to 2017.
Ansari joined the IFS in 1961. In a diplomatic career spanning 38 years, he served as the Indian ambassador to Australia, Afghanistan, Iran, and Saudi Arabia. He also served as the permanent representative of India to the United Nations between 1993 and 1995. He was appointed the vice-chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University from 2000 to 2002.[1] Later, he was the chairman of the National Commission for Minorities[1] from 2006 to 2007.
He was elected as the vice-president of India on 10 August 2007 and took office on 11 August 2007. He was reelected on 7 August 2012 and was sworn in by Pranab Mukherjee, the president of India. The oath taking ceremony was conducted at Rashtrapati Bhavan on 11 August 2012.[2] His second term ended in August 2017 since he was not offered another term, he decided not to run for a third term in the 2017 vice-presidential election. His tenure is tied with S. Radhakrishnan, for the longest vice presidential tenure in Indian history.
- ^ a b "Ansari almost missed V-C post in AMU". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 12 May 2012. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
- ^ "Hamid Ansari sworn-in as Vice President for second term". Business Standard. 11 August 2012. Retrieved 20 August 2012.