: Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar, whose tenure was to end on January 28, on Monday got a one-year extension. The nod for the extension of his tenure till
January 28, 2018 was given by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, official
sources said.
A 1977-IFS batch officer, Jaishankar was appointed Foreign Secretary on January 29, 2015 just few days before his retirement replacing Sujata Singh, whose term was abruptly curtailed by the Government.
With Jaishankar getting the extension, many seniordiplomats including India’s ambassador to Italy Anil Wadhwa (1979-batch) and Secretary (West) Sujata Mehta (1980-batch) will retire without getting a shot at the top position.
India’s Ambassador to China, Vijay Gokhale, seen as one of the main contenders to replace Jaishankar, is retiring in the end of January 2019. And with Jaishankar getting a one-year term, it leaves Gokhale in the race for the top diplomatic position in the External Affairs Ministry.