Sujatha sacked, Jaishankar India's new foreign secy

Subramanyam Jaishankar, former Indian ambassador to the United States, yesterday took charge as foreign secretary, hours after he was appointed the country's top diplomat in a major shake-up at the foreign ministry that saw the removal of Sujatha Singh.

"My priorities are the government's priorities. So, I think at this time let's leave it at that.... This is a big responsibility. I would say that I am very honoured that I have been assigned this responsibility," said Jaishankar when asked about his sudden appointment.

The government's action sparked a sharp reaction from main opposition Congress while ruling Bharatiya Janata Party said the government was within its right to appoint officers.

An official statement issued late on Wednesday night said the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet had approved the “curtailment of the tenure” of Sujatha Singh as foreign secretary with immediate effect.

The committee appointed Dr S Jaishankar as foreign secretary with the tenure of two years from the date of assumption of charge or until further orders, it said.

The decision to remove Sujatha and appoint Jaishankar was taken at a meeting of the Appointments Committee presided over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Jaishankar's appointment as foreign secretary two days before his retirement from Indian Foreign Service (IFS) on January 31 and a day after US President Barack Obama left India at the end of a three-day visit.

Jaishankar, who was earlier India's ambassador to China, is credited with the turnaround in India's relationship with the US in the last one year.

He went to the US at a time when the Devyani Khobragade affair had impacted the Delhi-Washington ties in December 2013 when Congress was in power in India and Sujatha was foreign secretary.

With Modi at the helm, he successfully turned around the relationship -- first by organising Indian PM's US visit in September last year, and then implementing his idea of getting US President Barack Obama as the chief guest for the Republic Day celebrations.

Jaishankar is one of the early negotiators of the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal in 2005.

He is said to have gained the trust of Modi government due to his diplomatic skills and knowledge on the challenges confronting Indo-US relations in particular, and the world at large.

Indian newspapers reported that External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj wanted Sujatha Singh to complete her tenure as foreign secretary, but Modi was not in favour of it.

Sujatha was not present when Jaishankar, son of Indian strategic affairs expert K Subramanyam, took charge at the South Block office.

Congress questioned the timing of the government's decision to remove Sujatha as foreign secretary and wondered whether it was "retribution" for her stand on Devyani Khobragade.

Defending the move to replace Sujatha, BJP ruled out any political motive and said the government had acted well within its rights.

This is not the first time an Indian foreign secretary has been sacked. In 1987, AP Venkateshwaran was unceremoniously removed as foreign secretary by the then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.