German Ambassador to India
Michael Steiner took which position between Mar 2013 and Dec 2014?
Michael Steiner Michael Steiner ( born 28 November 1949 , in Munich ) is a German diplomat who served as head of the United Nations Mission in Kosovo ( UNMIK ) . He was the German Ambassador to India from March 2012 - June 2015 . Early life and education . Michael Steiner was born on 28 November 1949 in Bavaria , Germany . Steiner studied law in Paris and Munich from 1971 to 1977 and qualified as a judge in 1981 . Career . In 1981 , Steiner entered the German Foreign Office . As a young political officer in Prague in the summer of 1989 , he won plaudits for his handling of a refugee crisis that helped lead to the fall of the Berlin Wall . As hundreds of East Germans surrounded his embassy grounds , asking for asylum and West German citizenship , he helped some of them over the wall himself , onto the embassy grounds , which were West German territory . Then he worked to negotiate a deal to allow the East Germans to leave the embassy and go to the West . During his career with the German government , Steiner served as head of the liaison office for German humanitarian aid in Zagreb , made his mark in the 1990s working with the so-called Contact Group of nations monitoring the Yugoslav wars ( of which Germany was a member ) , and as head of the co-ordination unit for multilateral peace efforts . He also led the special section International Peace Efforts in Yugoslavia from 1994 to 1995 . Steiner served nearly six months ( January–July 1997 ) as principal deputy to Carl Bildt , the first high representative in Sarajevo , Bosnia and Herzegovina . In 1998 , while serving as Germanys ambassador in Prague , he was plucked by Chancellor Gerhard Schröder to work in the chancellors office as his foreign and security policy adviser . And in 2001 he was forced to resign after the so-called . In December 2001 he was appointed a head of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo by UN Secretary General , Kofi Annan . He was the third special representative of the secretary general for Kosovo since UNMIK was established in 1999 . He followed Hans Haekkerup of Denmark and Bernard Kouchner of France , and was replaced by Harri Hermani Holkeri of Finland on 8 July 2003 . From April 2010 to March 2012 , Steiner served as Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan for the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs . In March 2012 Steiner was pronounced new ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to India . On 20 July 2012 , he hosted a festive ceremony at his residence in the honour of Zubin Mehta to acknowledge his outstanding contribution in the field of classical music . Personal life . Michael Steiner married Eliese Steiner , an art historian . They first met at the Colosseum in Italy . Controversy . In early 2001 , Steiner was criticized for apparently leaking information about sensitive talks between Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and US President George W . Bush . On 2 November 2001 , he had a row with three German soldiers stationed in Moscow , when Schröders plane was delayed for refuelling on the last day of a tour of Asia . Steiner allegedly called the soldiers arseholes and demanded that they served him caviar during the delay . Soon after news media reported about the incident , Steiner publicly apologized and resigned from his post . Lebe jetzt . To celebrate his retirement as German Ambassador to India , the German Embassy released a video on YouTube named Lebe jetzt . The video was a homage to popular Hindi movie Kal Ho Na Ho starring Shah Rukh Khan . Steiner played the part of Khan , his wife Eliese played the part of Preity Zinta whereas former Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid played the part essayed by Saif Ali Khan . External links . - Steiner appointed head of the UNMIK - Steiners biography at the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs ( in German )