Jaishankar was Manmohan’s first choice, but Sujatha was appointed by Sonia

TNN

New Delhi, 29 Jan 2015: New foreign secretary S Jaishankar assumed charge on Thursday,  replacing Sujatha Singh whose tenure was abruptly "curtailed" late on Wednesday night.

 

Government’s priorities are my priorities," said Jaishankar, a 1977-batch IFS officer, describing his new position as an "honour and a big responsibility".

 

Sujatha Singh was not present when Jaishankar took charge at the South Block office.

 

It is learnt that Jaishankar was frontrunner to become foreign secretary in 2013, and was a personal choice of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. However, Manmohan could not have his way as Sonia Gandhi had the last word with Sujatha Singh’s appointment.

 

Sujatha Singh’s father was former IB chief T V Rajeshwar, an old Congress party loyalist.

 

A copy of the government letter ordering the removal of Sujatha Singh as foreign secretary and appointing S Jaishankar in her place.

 

An officer of the 1977 batch of the Indian Foreign Service, Jaishankar is the son of strategic guru K Subrahmanyan, a former consulting editor with The Times of India. He was ambassador to China and before that ambassador to Singapore and the Czech Republic.

 

Jaishankar’s appointment promises sweeping changes to the ministry of external affairs. In the past six months, no ambassadorial appointments have been cleared by the government. The MEA had sent in recommendations but they were not cleared by the PMO, partly because the PM wanted to make the changes at the helm first.

 

New foreign secretary S Jaishankar (left) with Sujatha Singh (centre) and foreign minister Sushma Swaraj.

 

Jaishankar will have a two-year tenure as per rules. Before his sudden appointment as foreign secretary, the 60-year-old diplomat was India’s Ambassador to the US. He had also been posted as ambassador to China, Singapore and Czech Republic.

 

The decision to appoint Jaishankar, who played a key role during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US in September and US President Barack Obama’s just concluded visit here, was taken by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet chaired by Modi.