S. Jaishankar

Subrahmanyam Jaishankar was born in New Delhi in January 1955 to Krishnaswamy and Sulochana Subrahmanyam. He graduated from St. Stephen’s College, University of Delhi, and pursued postgraduate study at Jawaharlal Nehru University. His qualifications include a master’s degree in political science and an M.Phil. and doctorate in international relations. The Rajya Sabha’s biographical directory identifies his profession as diplomat and records two sons and a daughter.

Jaishankar joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1977. His assignments included work in Moscow, Colombo, Budapest and Tokyo, as well as in the Ministry of External Affairs and the President’s Secretariat. He served as ambassador to the Czech Republic from 2000 to 2004, High Commissioner to Singapore from 2007 to 2009, ambassador to China from 2009 to 2013 and ambassador to the United States from 2013 to 2015.

Jaishankar served as India’s Foreign Secretary between 2015 and 2018. After leaving that office, he became president for global corporate affairs at Tata Sons. He was appointed Minister of External Affairs on 30 May 2019 and was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Gujarat in July that year. The current portfolio allocation published by the Prime Minister’s Office continues to list him as External Affairs Minister.

Jaishankar has written books on India’s position in international affairs, including The India Way: Strategies for an Uncertain World, published in 2020, and Why Bharat Matters, published in 2024. His ministry records that these have appeared in Indian and foreign languages. He received the Padma Shri in 2019. His official parliamentary biography also lists interests in current affairs, international relations and the effects of technology on society.