for the second term on 7 August 2012, defeating the NDA's nominee Jaswant Singh by a margin of 252 votes. Ansari was the first person to be re-elected as Indian Vice President after Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan in 1957. Upon the inauguration of Ram Nath Kovind as President of India in 2017, Ansari became the first Indian Vice-President to serve during the terms of three presidents. He is the longest serving vice president of India. Views Ansari is a West Asia scholar and has written on the Palestinian issue and taken positions inconvenient to the Indian official line on Iraq and Iran. He questioned India's vote in the International Atomic Energy Agency on Iran's nuclear programme where India voted against Iran. He said that though the Indian Government claimed to have acted on "its own judgement," this was not borne out by facts. He was the chairman of a working group on "Confidence building measures across segments of society in the State," established by the Second Round Table Conference of the Prime Minister on Jammu and Kashmir in 2006. The report of the working group was adopted by the Third Round Table in April 2007. Among other things, the report advocates recognizing the right of Kashmiri Pandits to return to "places of their original residence". This right, it argued, should be recognized without any ambiguity and made a part of state policy. See also List of vice presidents of India Syed Akbaruddin Notes External links Profile at Indian Government website Iran Today: Twenty – five Years after the Islamic Revolution (Rupa, New Delhi,2005) () Hamid Ansari: versatile scholar, statesman Goof up leaves Ansari fuming |- 1937 births 20th-century Indian educational theorists 20th-century Indian politicians 21st-century Indian educational theorists 21st-century Indian politicians Aligarh Muslim University alumni Ambassadors of India to Afghanistan Ambassadors of India to Iran Ambassadors of India to Saudi Arabia Ambassadors of India to the United Arab Emirates High Commissioners of India to Australia Indian civil servants Indian Foreign Service officers 21st-century Indian Muslims Living people People from Kolkata Permanent Representatives of India to the United Nations Politicians from Kolkata Recipients of the Padma Shri in civil service Scholars from Kolkata St. Xavier's College, Kolkata alumni University of Calcutta alumni Vice-Chancellors of the Aligarh Muslim University Vice presidents of India Indian National Congress politicians from West Bengal People from Ghazipur