Was Part of Decision to Appoint New Foreign Secretary, Says External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today said she was part of the government's decision-making process to remove Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh and appoint Dr S Jaishankar in her place. In a series of tweets, Ms Swaraj also said she had broken the news to Ms Singh.  

The Minister's clarification came in the wake of reports that the surprise appointment of Dr Jaishankar, India's envoy to the US, was made without her approval. The government, it was reported, had informed her of its decision and had gone ahead even though she was not too enthusiastic.
 

@mdhizbullah I was very much a part of the decision to appoint Dr.Jaishankar as Foreign Secretary.

- Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) January 29, 2015

Then I spoke to Ms Sujatha Singh personally.

- Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) January 29, 2015

I told her that the Government wanted to appoint Dr.Jaishankar as Foreign Secretary.

- Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) January 29, 2015

Since Dr.Jaishankar was retiring on 31st January, we had to issue orders of his appointment before that date.

- Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) January 29, 2015

Ms Swaraj, it was said, preferred that Ms Singh completed her two-year tenure. But Prime Minister Narendra Modi was said to have been keen to get Dr Jaishankar on board.

Ms Singh's tenure was curtailed on Wednesday, even though she had seven months to go before retirement. Premature removal of the head of the elite foreign services is rare - the last time it happened was in the late 1980s.