Minister of External Affairs (India)
The Minister of External Affairs (or simply Foreign Minister) is the head of the Ministry of External Affairs of the Government of India. One of the senior-most offices in the Union Cabinet, the chief responsibility of the Foreign Minister is to represent India and its government in the international community. The Foreign Minister also plays an important role in determining Indian foreign policy. Occasionally, the Foreign Minister is assisted by a Minister of State for External Affairs or the lower-ranked Deputy Minister of External Affairs.
Minister of External Affairs Videsh Mantri | |
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![]() Emblem of India | |
Ministry of External Affairs | |
Appointer | President on the advice of the Prime Minister |
Inaugural holder | Jawaharlal Nehru |
Formation | 2 September 1946 |
India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, also held the Foreign Minister post throughout his 17-year premiership of the country; he remains the country's longest-serving Foreign Minister. Several other Prime Ministers have since held the additional charge of foreign minister, but never has any other cabinet minister held additional charge of the office. There have been a number of Foreign Ministers who went on to become the Prime Minister like Atal Bihari Vajpayee, P. V. Narasimha Rao and I. K. Gujral.
The current Minister of External Affairs is Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, succeeding Sushma Swaraj of the Bharatiya Janata Party on 30 May 2019
List of Foreign Ministers
№ | Name | Portrait | Term of office | Political party (Alliance) |
Prime Minister | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Jawaharlal Nehru | ![]() |
2 September 1946 | 27 May 1964 | Indian National Congress | Himself | |
2 | Gulzarilal Nanda | 27 May 1964 | 9 June 1964 | Himself (acting) | |||
3 | Lal Bahadur Shastri | ![]() |
9 June 1964 | 17 July 1964 | Himself | ||
4 | Swaran Singh | 18 July 1964 | 14 November 1966 | Lal Bahadur Shastri Indira Gandhi | |||
5 | M. C. Chagla | ![]() |
14 November 1966 | 5 September 1967 | Indira Gandhi | ||
6 | Indira Gandhi | ![]() |
6 September 1967 | 13 February 1969 | |||
7 | Dinesh Singh | 14 February 1969 | 27 June 1970 | ||||
(4) | Swaran Singh | 27 June 1970 | 10 October 1974 | ||||
8 | Yashwantrao Chavan | ![]() |
10 October 1974 | 24 March 1977 | |||
9 | Atal Bihari Vajpayee | ![]() |
26 March 1977 | 28 July 1979 | Janata Party | Morarji Desai | |
10 | Shyam Nandan Prasad Mishra | 28 July 1979 | 13 January 1980 | Janata Party (Secular) | Charan Singh | ||
11 | P. V. Narasimha Rao | ![]() |
14 January 1980 | 19 July 1984 | Indian National Congress | Indira Gandhi | |
(6) | Indira Gandhi | ![]() |
19 July 1984 | 31 October 1984 | |||
12 | Rajiv Gandhi | ![]() |
31 October 1984 | 24 September 1985 | Rajiv Gandhi | ||
13 | Bali Ram Bhagat | ![]() |
25 September 1985 | 12 May 1986 | |||
14 | P. Shiv Shankar | 12 May 1986 | 22 October 1986 | ||||
15 | N. D. Tiwari | ![]() |
22 October 1986 | 25 July 1987 | |||
(12) | Rajiv Gandhi | ![]() |
25 July 1987 | 25 June 1988 | |||
(11) | P. V. Narasimha Rao | ![]() |
25 June 1988 | 2 December 1989 | |||
16 | V. P. Singh | ![]() |
2 December 1989 | 5 December 1989 | Janata Dal (National Front) |
V. P. Singh | |
17 | I. K. Gujral | ![]() |
5 December 1989 | 10 November 1990 | |||
18 | Vidya Charan Shukla | 21 November 1990 | 20 February 1991 | Samajwadi Janata Party |
Chandra Shekhar | ||
19 | Chandra Shekhar[1] | ![]() |
20 February 1991 | 21 June 1991 | |||
20 | Madhavsinh Solanki | 21 June 1991 | 31 March 1992 | Indian National Congress | P. V. Narasimha Rao | ||
(11) | P. V. Narasimha Rao | ![]() |
31 March 1992 | 18 January 1993 | |||
(7) | Dinesh Singh | 18 January 1993 | 10 February 1995 | ||||
21 | Pranab Mukherjee | ![]() |
10 February 1995 | 16 May 1996 | |||
22 | Sikander Bakht | 21 May 1996 | 1 June 1996 | Bharatiya Janata Party | Atal Bihari Vajpayee | ||
(17) | I. K. Gujral | ![]() |
1 June 1996 | 18 March 1998 | Janata Dal (United Front) |
H. D. Deve Gowda I. K. Gujral | |
(9) | Atal Bihari Vajpayee | ![]() |
19 March 1998 | 5 December 1998 | Bharatiya Janata Party (National Democratic Alliance) |
Atal Bihari Vajpayee | |
23 | Jaswant Singh | ![]() |
5 December 1998 | 23 June 2002 | |||
24 | Yashwant Sinha | ![]() |
1 July 2002 | 22 May 2004 | |||
25 | Natwar Singh | ![]() |
22 May 2004[2] | 6 November 2005[3] | Indian National Congress (United Progressive Alliance) |
Manmohan Singh | |
26 | Manmohan Singh | ![]() |
6 November 2005 | 24 October 2006 | |||
(21) | Pranab Mukherjee | ![]() |
24 October 2006[4] | 22 May 2009 | |||
27 | S. M. Krishna | ![]() |
22 May 2009 | 26 October 2012 | |||
28 | Salman Khurshid | ![]() |
28 October 2012 | 26 May 2014 | |||
29 | Sushma Swaraj | ![]() |
26 May 2014 | 30 May 2019 | Bharatiya Janata Party (National Democratic Alliance) |
Narendra Modi | |
30 | Subrahmanyam Jaishankar | ![]() |
30 May 2019 | Incumbent |
See also
- Indian Foreign Secretary
References
- "Council of Ministers" (PDF).
- Rediff.com dated 22 May 2004, accessed 25 October 200
- BBC News dated 7 November 2005, accessed 25 October 200
- The Hindu dated 25 October 2006, accessed 25 October 2006.