By Oracle News Daily Staff Writer
When Upjit Singh Sachdeva was named in 1994 as India’s Honorary Consul General to Liberia, the country was still under the shadow of civil war, bullets and fragmented authority.
Few envoys would have chosen such a posting. Sachdeva—better known across Liberia simply as “Jeety” did more than keep diplomatic hours. He planted himself in the difficult terrain and made service to people the center of his mission.
Nearly three decades later, Jeety’s name has become synonymous in Liberia with philanthropy. His nearly 27-year tenure as India’s Consul General ended in February 2021 when New Delhi established a resident mission in Monrovia.
But his public life did not end there. In October this year, he opened a new chapter when the Slovak Republic appointed him Honorary Consul General to Liberia—a recognition that Liberia’s Foreign Minister Sara Beysolow Nyanti hailed as deepening ties between Monrovia and Europe.
“His appointment” the minister said at a reception on October 8, “is an important step toward enhanced cooperation in trade, investment, tourism and cultural exchange.”
For his part, Sachdeva pledged to promote and protect the Slovak Republic’s interests in Liberia while fostering partnerships that benefit both nations.
Businessman by trade, philanthropist by vocation
Sachdeva’s career is a weave of commerce, diplomacy and charity. He is CEO and managing director of Salala Rubber Corporation (est. 1959) and Jeety Trading Corporation in Vai Town, Monrovia and Jeety Rubber LLC .
Yet, in Liberia his business profile has frequently been eclipsed by his humanitarian record. For more than 25 years he championed education and health causes, supported communities affected by conflict, donated ambulances and backed initiatives that put vulnerable people first.
He sits on the boards of institutions central to national development—the University of Liberia, Cuttington University, Booker Washington Institute and AME Zion University—underlining a long standing commitment to education as a pathway out of poverty and instability.
A celebrated public figure
Liberians and international observers have recognized Sachdeva’s contributions with a string of honors. In 2011 he received two of his Liberia’s highest distinctions: Liberia’s Knight Grand Commander of the Humane Order of African Redemption, conferred by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and India’s Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award, presented in New Delhi.
In 2022 he was the recipient of Liberia’s Golden Image Award for his “indefatigable and unwavering contributions to humanity.” Several universities have awarded him honorary doctorates in recognition of his civic and philanthropic work.
Across the country, his interventions—from feeding the hungry and clothing the poor to supporting medical care for the sick have built a practical reservoir of goodwill. For many Liberians, Jeety’s robe is less that of a diplomat and more that of a community caretaker.
A bridge-builder in changing times
Sachdeva’s trajectory—merchant, envoy, benefactor—mirrors Liberia’s own post conflict journey toward stability and development. His reemergence in diplomacy as Slovakia’s Honorary Consul General is emblematic of a broader diplomatic embrace: small but meaningful threads that stitch Liberia into a wider global fabric.
As Liberia pursues its $8.3 billion ARREST agenda for inclusive development, figures like Jeety play dual roles: they are private actors who invest in the economy and public-spirited individuals who shore up the social fabric. His story is not simply one of awards and appointments, but of a practical conviction that durable progress depends on institutions and on the everyday acts of care that sustain communities.
In a country still healing from the past, Upjit “Jeety” Sachdeva’s presence—whether delivering an ambulance, supporting a university, or opening a new consular office—remains a reminder that diplomacy can be measured as much in deeds as in documents.
