Top Diplomat & Modi’s “Go-to-Man” S Jaishankar sworn-in as New Minister of External Affairs

Guwahati: With the announcement of the final portfolios of the Modi Cabinet 2.0, here’s a story a top diplomat Subrahmanyam Jaishankar who joins the Modi Sarkar as the new Minister of External Affairs.

Former Foreign Secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar was sworn-as in as a Union Cabinet minister on Thursday evening and was given the charge of External Affairs ministry on Friday, thus, becoming the first foreign secretary to head the MEA as a minister.

Subrahmanyam Jaishankar is a graduate of St Stephen's College, Jaishankar completed his MA in Political Science and opted for MPhil and Ph.D. in International Relations from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).

Subrahmanyam Jaishankar took charge of the ministry nearly 16 months after he retired as foreign secretary.

A 1977 batch officer of the Indian Foreign Service, Jaishankar was the longest serving foreign secretary in four decades and was conferred with the fourth highest civilian award Padma Shri by President Ram Nath Kovind in March.

He retired from the position of foreign secretary in late January 2018 – a post for which it is said that he was personally picked by Modi in 2015.

Role as Foreign Secretary

As a foreign secretary, the 64-year-old Jaishankar served as India’s ambassador to the US, China, Singapore and the Czech Republic. Jaishankar was also former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's first choice in 2013 to replace Ranjan Mathai as Foreign Secretary.

During his tenure as an Indian Ambassador to China (2009-2013), he was a prominent figure on handling several diplomatic affairs including incursion in Ladakh's Depsang and handling tough negotiations with Beijing including.

In 2014, as an Indian Ambassador to the United States, Jaishankar also handled matters on planning Modi’s maiden trip to the US. Previously, he was a key member of the team that worked on the nuclear deal with the US that was signed by the UPA government in 2007.

Jaishankar, in 2015, replaced Sujata Singh whose term was abruptly curtailed by the NDA government.

In the year 2017, he is also seen as having played a critical role in defusing the 73 days long Doklam crisis between India and China.