S Jaishankar and other ministers of the new NDA government '3.0' on Tuesday took charge of their ministries a day after their portfolios were officially revealed. Diplomat-turned-politician S Jaishankar on Tuesday assumed charge as external affairs minister for the second consecutive term.
Jaishankar, 69, is among the senior BJP leaders, including Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari and Nirmala Sitharaman, who retained the ministries that they handled in the previous government.
"Assumed charge as the Minister of External Affairs. Thank PM @narendramodi for assigning me this responsibility," he said on microblogging platform X.
Jaishankar, who popular for his responses on India's positions on a range of complex issues at the global stage, spoke on India's relationship with Pakistan and China over the next five years, saying that the relations with those countries are different, and the problems there are also different.
"In any country and especially in a democracy, it is a very big deal for a government to get elected three times in a row. So the world will definitely feel that today there is a lot of political stability in India...," Jaishankar said.
"As far as Pakistan and China are concerned, the relations with those countries are different, and the problems there are also different. Our focus with regard to China will be on finding a solution for the border issues and with Pakistan, we would want to find a solution to the issue of years-old cross-border terrorism...," he told news agency ANI.
From handling western criticism of India's procurement of crude oil from Russia in the wake of the war in Ukraine to crafting a firm policy approach to deal with an assertive China, Jaishankar emerged as one of leading ministers with an impressive record of performance in Prime Minister Modi's previous government.
Currently, Jaishankar is a member of Rajya Sabha from Gujarat. He served as India's foreign secretary from (2015-18), Ambassador to the United States (2013-15), China (2009-2013) and Czech Republic (2000-2004).
Jaishankar served as India's high commissioner to Singapore (2007-2009).
Jaishankar has also served in other diplomatic assignments in embassies in Moscow, Colombo, Budapest and Tokyo, as well in the Ministry of External Affairs and the President's Secretariat.
(with PTI inputs)
