The minister of external affairs (or simply, the external affairs minister ''Hindi:'' ''Videsh Mantri'') is the head of the Ministry of External Affairs of the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

. One of the senior-most offices in the

union cabinet The Union Council of Ministers is the Cabinet (government), principal executive organ of the Government of India, which serves to aid and advise the President of India in execution of their functions.Article 74 of the ''Constitution of India' ...

, the chief responsibility of the minister of external affairs is to represent the government of India in the international community and advance its interests on the global stage. As such, the minister plays an important role in shaping and directing the country's

foreign policy Foreign policy, also known as external policy, is the set of strategies and actions a State (polity), state employs in its interactions with other states, unions, and international entities. It encompasses a wide range of objectives, includ ...

. Typically, the minister is assisted by one or more junior ministers, known as Ministers of State (MoS) for External Affairs. India's first prime minister,

Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a pr ...

, simultaneously held the post of External Affairs Minister throughout his 17-year premiership and remains the longest-serving External Affairs Minister, followed by S. Jaishankar, the currently serving External Affairs Minister. Several other Prime Ministers have since held the additional charge as the Minister of External Affairs, but never has any other cabinet minister held additional charge of the office - although during Nehru's premiership

V. K. Krishna Menon Vengalil Krishnan Krishna Menon (3 May 1896 – 6 October 1974) was an Indian academic, independence activist, politician, lawyer, and statesman. During his time, Menon contributed to the Indian independence movement and India's foreign r ...

was acknowledged as ''de facto'' minister of external affairs beyond his official designation as

defence minister A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

. There have been a number of external affairs ministers who went on to become the prime minister like

Atal Bihari Vajpayee Atal Bihari Vajpayee (25 December 1924 – 16 August 2018) was an Indian poet, writer and statesman who served as the prime minister of India, first for a term of 13 days in 1996, then for a period of 13 months from 1998 ...

P. V. Narasimha Rao Pamulaparthi Venkata Narasimha Rao (28 June 1921 – 23 December 2004) was an Indian independence activist, lawyer, and statesman from the Indian National Congress who served as the prime minister of India from 1991 to 1996. He was the first p ...

and I. K. Gujral. Two former career-diplomats have served as ministers of external affairs, including K. Natwar Singh (20042005) who served as India's ambassador to Poland and as high commissioner to Pakistan, and the current minister

Subrahmanyam Jaishankar Subrahmanyam Jaishankar (born 9 January 1955), better known as S. Jaishankar, is an Indian politician and retired diplomat of the Indian Foreign Service, Indian foreign service (IFS) who has held the office of the Minister of External Affairs ...

who retired as the foreign secretary. Two other ministers, M. C. Chagla and I. K. Gujral also served as ambassadors, with Chagla serving as India's ambassador to the United States and high commissioner to the United Kingdom, while Gujral served as ambassador to the Soviet Union. The current minister of external affairs is

, who succeeded Sushma Swaraj of the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

on 30 May 2019.

Minister of External Affairs

Ministers of state

Deputy ministers

References

External links

Official Website of Ministry of External Affairs

MEA Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:External_Affairs_(India) Minister Union ministers of India

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Ministry of External Affairs (India) Lists of government ministers of India

Minister of External Affairs

Ministers of state

Deputy ministers

See also

References

External links