Published 14:42 IST, June 24th 2019
EAM S Jaishankar joins BJP in presence of party's working president J P Nadda at the parliament house
Days after being inducted in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet as External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar formally joined the BJP in presence of working president of the party JP Nadda.
Days after being inducted in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet as External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar formally joined the BJP in presence of working president of the party JP Nadda.
His name was a surprise entry into the Modi Cabinet 2.0 and was said to a well-thought move towards the foreign policy as he was India's former foreign secretary. Son of prominent international strategic affairs analyst K Subrahmanyam, 64-year old, Jaishankar's diplomatic career spans for more than three decades.
He has played an important role in framing India's strategic affairs. During Modi's first term, the Prime Minister gave him an extension after his two-year term ended in December 2017. After his retirement, he had taken a job in the private sector - with the Tata group as its president for global corporate affairs. He was also an Indian ambassador to Washington when Prime Minister Modi visited the US for the first time.In March, the 64-year-old had received the Padma Shri award from President Ram Nath Kovind.
As the US ambassador, he had played a key role in negotiating the Indo-US civilian nuclear agreement, which was finally signed in 2008 under former PM Manmohan Singh.
Further, S Jaishankar was appointed as foreign secretary in January 2015, after PM Modi dismissed the foreign secretary Sujatha Singh. Jaishankar was the country's longest-serving foreign secretary in four decades and helped craft much of PM Modi's foreign policy.
A former ambassador to China, Jaishankar had played a key role in resolving the crisis following the incursion in Ladakh's Depsang and the 73 days long Doklam stand-off, handling the tough negotiations with Beijing. He is credited to end the Chinese policy of issuing stapled visas to Indians from Jammu and Kashmir in 2010.
At the beginning of his career, he was an Indian Foreign Service officer with a posting in Moscow from 1979 to 1981.From 1981-1985, he served under-secretary in the Americas and Policy Planning Divisions of the Ministry of External Affairs. Jaishankar served as First Secretary and Political Advisor to the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in Sri Lanka. He was also appointed Ambassador of India to Czech Republic and served in Prague till 2004.
Updated 15:08 IST, June 24th 2019