A day after the Government appointed India’s Ambassador to the US Dr S Jaishankar as Foreign Secretary, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj stepped forward to justify the decision and clarified that she was part of the decision process. Swaraj’s statement came amid media speculation that she was not consulted beforehand.
“Since Dr Jaishankar was retiring on January 31, we had to issue orders of his appointment before that date… Then I spoke to Sujatha Singh personally. I told her that the Government wanted to appoint Dr Jaishankar as Foreign Secretary,” Sushma tweeted to clear the air. Sujatha Singh was not present when S Jaishankar took charge as Foreign Secretary on Thursday.
However, Sujatha Singh claimed that she had sought an early retirement and had urged the Government to relieve her as soon as US President Barack Obama’s visit ends. She said this in a farewell email to her colleagues in the Foreign Service.
“I believe that the Foreign Secretary, as Head of this Service and the senior-most civil servant in the Ministry, plays a critical role in being the main point of interface with the political leadership, in giving objective advice that takes into account India’s foreign policy interests over all connected and interlinked aspects. While individuals can and do play a critical role in building institutions, I believe that no individual is larger than the institution. It can never be about individuals. It has to be about institutions and how institutions interface and coordinate with each other,” Singh wrote. She made no reference about the abrupt end to her service.
The top post eluded Jaishankar in 2013 when despite then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh favouring him, his senior Sujatha Singh pipped him to the post, thanks to purported backing of Congress president Sonia Gandhi. But Prime Minister Narendra Modi did what Manmohan Singh could not. Following his visit to the US in September, the PM had indicated to have Jaishankar in his team.
With the Government and the new Foreign Secretary on the same page, now a lot of pending issues are likely to gather speed. Among them is appointment of seven ambassadors. Tenure of six — Seoul, Ottawa, Canberra, Atlanta, Geneva (United Nations Permanent Representative) and Jakarta — is coming to an end, apart from the latest vacancy now in Washington. While six names of envoys were forwarded to the Prime Minister’s Office about a fortnight back, it is learnt names for Canberra and Ottawa have been cleared while rest are on wait.
S Jaishankar is expected to play important role in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming visits to China and Sri lanka this year. Jaishankar has served as Indian Ambassador to China from 2009-2013 while he had served two years in Sri lanka as the First Secretary and Political Adviser to the Indian Peacekeeping Force.
“My priorities are 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, a 1977-batch IFS officer. It is believed that Indian Ambassador in Paris Arun Kumar Singh may be shifted to Washington now to fill vacancy of Jaishankar.
Even as Sujatha Singh’s removal raised questions over the fixed tenure of officers for certain posts, a senior Government official clarified that the clause of fixed tenure is only applicable as long as the officer is in service. But once the officer crosses the retirement age then he or she enters into a contract with the Government which both sides can terminate at their own will. Sujatha Singh had turned 60 last year and was on contract thereafter, sources said.
Meanwhile, with a sudden change at the top in MEA, a Parliamentary Committee on External Affairs could not get a briefing by the Foreign Secretary on matters related to recruitment, structure and capacity-building for Indian Foreign Service and the need for a separate UPSC examination for IFS. The Standing Committee headed by Congress’ Shashi Tharoor will be briefed by the new Foreign Secretary at a later stage once he settles down in new office.