The Indian government’s Ministry of External Affairs is led by the Minister of External Affairs. The Foreign Minister is one of the most senior positions in the Union Cabinet, with the primary task of representing India and its government in the world community. The Foreign Minister is also a key figure in the formulation of Indian foreign policy. A Minister of State for External Affairs or a lower-ranking Deputy Minister of External Affairs may occasionally assist the Foreign Minister.
During his 17-year presidency, India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, also served as Foreign Minister; he is the country’s longest-serving Foreign Minister. Since then, several other Prime Ministers have held the extra job of foreign minister, but no other cabinet official has ever done so.
List of First 10 Foreign Ministers of India:
Sl. No. | Name | Term of office | Length | Prime Minister | |
1 | Jawaharlal Nehru | 15 August 1947 | 27 May 1964 | 16 years, 286 days | Jawaharlal Nehru |
2 | Gulzarilal Nanda | 27 May 1964 | 9 June 1964 | 13 days | Gulzarilal Nanda (acting) |
3 | Lal Bahadur Shastri | 9 June 1964 | 17 July 1964 | 38 days | Lal Bahadur Shastri |
4 | Swaran Singh | 18 July 1964 | 14 November 1966 | 2 years, 119 days | Lal Bahadur Shastri Indira Gandhi |
5 | M. C. Chagla | 14 November 1966 | 5 September 1967 | 295 days | Indira Gandhi |
6 | Indira Gandhi | 6 September 1967 | 13 February 1969 | 1 year, 160 days | Indira Gandhi |
7 | Dinesh Singh | 14 February 1969 | 27 June 1970 | 1 year, 133 days | Indira Gandhi |
8 | Yashwantrao Chavan | 10 October 1974 | 24 March 1977 | 2 years, 165 days | Indira Gandhi |
9 | Atal Bihari Vajpayee | 26 March 1977 | 28 July 1979 | 2 years, 124 days | Morarji Desai |
10 | Shyam Nandan Prasad Mishra | 28 July 1979 | 14 January 1980 | 170 days | Charan Singh |
The Current Foreign Minister Of India:
Subrahmanyam Jaishankar (born 9 January 1955) was an Indian diplomat who is serving as the Indian government’s Minister of External Affairs since May 31, 2019. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party and has been representing Gujarat in the Rajya Sabha since 5 July 2019. As President, Global Corporate Affairs, Jaishankar joined Tata Sons. Padma Shri, India’s fourth highest civilian honour, was bestowed upon him in 2019. He was sworn in as a cabinet minister in the second Modi Cabinet on May 30, 2019. On May 31, 2019, he was appointed Minister of External Affairs. He is the first former Foreign Secretary to serve as a Cabinet Minister in the Ministry of External Affairs.
Foreign Secretary of India:
The foreign secretary of India is the top diplomat of India and the administrative head of the Ministry of External Affairs. This post is held by an Indian foreign service officer of the rank of secretary to the government of India. The current and 33rd foreign secretary of India is Harsh Vardhan Shringla, who took charge on January 29, 2020. Shringla belongs to the 1984 batch of IFS. He previously served as India’s envoy to the United States, Bangladesh, and Thailand.
First Foreign Minister of India:
Jawaharlal Nehru was an Indian politician, anti-colonial nationalist, politician, diplomat, journalist and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. A secular humanist and social democrat, Nehru was a principal leader of the Indian nationalist movement in 1930 and 1940. Upon India’s independence in 1947, he served as the country’s prime minister for 17 years. Nehru promoted parliamentary democracy, secularism, pacifism and science and technology during 1950, powerfully influencing India’s arc as a modern nation. In international affairs, he steered India clear of the two blocs of the Cold War. A well-regarded author, his books written in prison, such as Letters from a Father to His Daughter (1929), An Autobiography (1936) and The Discovery of India (1946), have been read around the world.
Conclusion:
The Ministry of External Affairs and Commonwealth Relations was established as a leftover from the British Raj. In 1948, it was renamed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The portfolio was held as an additional duty by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru until his death in 1964, when a separate Minister with Cabinet status was appointed. The Minister of External Affairs, who is also a Cabinet Minister, is in charge of the Ministry of External Affairs. The Foreign Secretary, who is an Indian Foreign Service officer, is the Department of Foreign Affairs’ highest senior civil worker.