The importance of being S Jaishankar

So when Modi returned to power for a second term, the first thing he did was to bring in his trusted foreign policy aide into the government as a cabinet minister even though he is not an MP and had no political experience - where he would also be part of the core decision-making committees in the government, like the vitally important Cabinet Committee on Security

In appointing Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, former foreign secretary, as the new foreign minister, in his second stint in power, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sent a powerful message to the world community - one, continuity in foreign policy and two, his complete trust in the man who has been assigned to the important portfolio.

Jaishankar, who had retired as foreign secretary last year after a three-year stint, the longest by the country’s top diplomat, had joined Tata Sons,

India's biggest and most diversified business conglomerate, as a director after his retirement. He was India's ambassador to the US when Modi cut short his Washington assignment to bring him to New Delhi as the head of the foreign office replacing the incumbent, Sujatha Singh. During his three years as foreign secretary, Jaishankar and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval formed the strategic and security brains trust of the first Modi government.

It was known that Modi had wanted Jaishankar to continue to be associated with the government in some capacity after his retirement, but Jaishankar was apparently unwilling to come as a junior minister in the government or as a Deputy National Security Adviser.

So when Modi returned to power for a second term, the first thing he did was to bring in his trusted foreign policy aide into the government as a cabinet minister even though he is not an MP and had no political experience - where he would also be part of the core decision-making committees in the government, like the vitally important Cabinet Committee on Security. This is perhaps the first time that a foreign ministry bureaucrat has been made a cabinet minister straightaway, without going through the political baby steps.

The only other instance of a former Indian diplomat becoming a foreign minister was K Natwar Singh, who was secretary in the external affairs ministry (he never became foreign secretary), in the eighties, before he joined the government of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi as a junior minister, holding various portfolios. It was only in 2004 that he was elevated as foreign minister in the government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Hardeep Singh Puri, India's former permanent representative to the UN, joined politics on retirement and became housing and urban development minister in the first Modi government. He continues in the council of ministers, with added portfolios of civil aviation as well as commerce and industry, but as minister of state with independent charge.

Jaishankar succeeds Sushma Swaraj, who was a good foreign minister, but whose profile was overshadowed by that of Prime Minister Modi and she was largely reduced to engaging with overseas Indians and looking after the passport/visa problems of Indian citizens. Her last foreign office engagement was in having an informal icebreaker powwow with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mohammed Qureshi in Bishkek, Kyrgystan last month, on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) foreign ministers' meeting, preparatory to the June summit.

Like Arun Jaitley, the finance minister in Modi's first term, Swaraj too has opted out of the government citing ill-health. She too had a kidney transplant some years ago, followed by Jaitley.

Jaishankar is the son of K Subrahmanyam, India's pre-eminent strategic analyst till his death in 2011, who was a staunch advocate of closer Indo-US ties to meet emerging global challenges. Jaishankar has also served as Indian ambassador to China and was a key player as joint secretary (Americas) when the Indo-US nuclear deal was signed.

With Vijay Gokhale, also a former ambassador to China, who succeeded Jaishankar as foreign secretary last year, the two will make for a formidable duo as 'China hands' in the government, with improving ties with China high on the Modi foreign policy agenda.