New Delhi: The biggest surprise in Narendra Modi Ministry was when former Foreign Secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar took oath as a Cabinet Minister. Known to be close to Modi, Jaishankar had previously held positions like the High Commissioner to Singapore, and Ambassador to China and the US, besides serving as Foreign Secretary from January 2015 to January 2018.
Jaishankar, a career diplomat from the 1977 batch, was handpicked by Modi for the post of Foreign Secretary in January 2015. After he became Foreign Secretary for a two-year term, Jaishankar shaped policies in line with Modi’s idea of an aspirational and assertive India — from the outreach to West Asian countries, including the UAE and Israel, to negotiations with Japan on the nuclear deal; from playing hardball with the Chinese on Doklam to the Belt and Road Initiative and Nuclear Suppliers Group.
