Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Sujatha Singh to be next Foreign Secretary

Sujatha Singh, currently India's envoy to Germany, will be the next Foreign Secretary following an approval of her appointment by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, ending months of speculation on who will head the foreign services.

59-year-old Ms Singh, a 1976 batch IFS officer, was a close contender for the top job along with India's Ambassador to China, S. Jaishankar, who is a batch junior to her. Jaishankar's name was doing the rounds for the post because of his excellent service record, particularly as envoy to China.

Due to retire in July next year, Ms Singh will now have a two-year extension and will succeed Ranjan Mathai who is set to retire on July 31.

Ms Singh, the third woman to head the services after Chokila Iyer and Nirupama Rao, is the daughter of TV Rajeshwar, the former Intelligence Bureau Chief known to be close to the top brass of the Congress.

Ms Singh is the wife of former Secretary (East) Sanjay Singh, who retired in April this year. There were reports that she, along with other diplomats senior to Jaishankar, were contemplating resigning if he was elevated. Finally, the Prime Minister plumped for seniority.

Her name was cleared after the Prime Minister returned from his Kashmir visit last week. Though Sujatha Singh has not done any diplomatic stint in India's neighbourhood. Though she was the Under-Secretary looking after Nepal from 1982-1985 before her postings in Europe which include Italy and France.

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