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Minister of External Affairs (India)

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Minister of External Affairs
Videś Mantrī
since 31 May 2019 (2019-05-31)
Ministry of External Affairs
AbbreviationMEA
Member ofCabinet of India
Cabinet Committee on Security
Reports toPresident of India
Prime Minister of India
Parliament of India
AppointerPresident of India
on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of India
Formation1947 (1947)
First holderJawaharlal Nehru
DeputyKirti Vardhan SinghPabitra Margherita

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. One of the senior-most offices in the union cabinet, the chief responsibility of the Minister of External Affairs is to represent India and its government in the international community. The Minister also plays an important role in determining the foreign policy. Occasionally, the Minister of External Affairs is assisted by a Minister of State for External Affairs or the lower-ranked Deputy Minister of External Affairs.

India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, also held the post of External Affairs Minister throughout his 17-year premiership and remains the longest-serving External Affairs Minister. Several other Prime Ministers have since held the additional charge of 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 was acknowledged as de facto Minister of External Affairs beyond his official designation as Defence Minister. There have been a number of external affairs ministers who went on to become the Prime Minister like Atal Bihari Vajpayee, P. V. Narasimha Rao and I. K. Gujral. Two former career-diplomats have served as ministers of external affairs, including K. Natwar Singh (2004–2005) who served as India's Ambassador to Poland and as High Commissioner to Pakistan, and the current minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar 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 Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, who succeeded Sushma Swaraj of the Bharatiya Janata Party on 30 May 2019.

Cabinet Ministers

[edit]
No. Portrait Minister
(Birth-Death)
Constituency
Term of office Political party Ministry Prime Minister
From To Period
Minister of External Affairs and Commonwealth Relations
1 Jawaharlal Nehru
(1889–1964)
MCA for United Provinces

(Prime Minister)
15 August
1947
26 January
1950
2 years, 164 days Indian National Congress Nehru I Self
Minister of External Affairs
(1) Jawaharlal Nehru
(1889–1964)
MCA for United Provinces (till 1952)
MP for Phulpur (from 1952)

(Prime Minister)
26 January
1950
27 May
1964[†]
14 years, 122 days Indian National Congress Nehru I Self
Nehru II
Nehru III
Nehru IV
2 Gulzarilal Nanda
(1898–1998)
MP for Sabarkantha

(Prime Minister)
27 May
1964
9 June
1964
13 days Nanda I Self
3 Lal Bahadur Shastri
(1904–1966)
MP for Allahabad

(Prime Minister)
9 June
1964
17 July
1964
38 days Shastri Lal Bahadur Shastri
4 Swaran Singh
(1907–1994)
MP for Jullundur
17 July
1964
11 January
1966
2 years, 120 days
11 January
1966
24 January
1966
Nanda II Gulzarilal Nanda
24 January
1966
14 November
1966
Indira I Indira Gandhi
5 M. C. Chagla
(1900–1981)
Rajya Sabha MP for Maharashtra
14 November
1966
13 March
1967
295 days
13 March
1967
5 September
1967
Indira II
6 Indira Gandhi
(1917–1984)
MP for Rae Bareli

(Prime Minister)
6 September
1967
13 February
1969
1 year, 160 days
7 Dinesh Singh
(1925–1995)
MP for Pratapgarh
14 February
1969
27 June
1970
1 year, 133 days Indian National Congress (R)
(4) Swaran Singh
(1907–1994)
MP for Jullundur
27 June
1970
18 March
1971
4 years, 105 days
18 March
1971
10 October
1974
Indira III
8 Yashwantrao Chavan
(1913–1984)
MP for Satara
10 October
1974
24 March
1977
2 years, 165 days
9 Atal Bihari Vajpayee
(1924–2018)
MP for New Delhi
26 March
1977
28 July
1979
2 years, 124 days Janata Party Desai Morarji Desai
10 Shyam Nandan Prasad Mishra
(1920–2004)
MP for Begusarai
28 July
1979
14 January
1980
170 days Janata Party (Secular) Charan Charan Singh
11 P. V. Narasimha Rao
(1921–2004)
MP for Hanamkonda
14 January
1980
19 July
1984
4 years, 187 days Indian National Congress (I) Indira IV Indira Gandhi
(6) Indira Gandhi
(1917–1984)
MP for Medak

(Prime Minister)
19 July
1984
31 October
1984
104 days
12 Rajiv Gandhi
(1944–1991)
MP for Amethi

(Prime Minister)
31 October
1984
31 December
1984
328 days Rajiv I Rajiv Gandhi
31 December
1984
24 September
1985
Rajiv
13 Bali Ram Bhagat
(1922–2011)
MP for Arrah
24 September
1985
12 May
1986
230 days
14 P. Shiv Shankar
(1929–2017)
Rajya Sabha MP for Gujarat
12 May
1986
22 October
1986
163 days
15 N. D. Tiwari
(1925–2018)
Rajya Sabha MP for Uttar Pradesh
22 October
1986
25 July
1987
276 days
(12) Rajiv Gandhi
(1944–1991)
MP for Amethi

(Prime Minister)
25 July
1987
25 June
1988
336 days
(11) P. V. Narasimha Rao
(1921–2004)
MP for Ramtek
25 June
1988
2 December
1989
1 year, 160 days
16 Vishwanath Pratap Singh
(1931–2008)
MP for Fatehpur

(Prime Minister)
2 December
1989
5 December
1989
3 days Janata Dal Vishwanath Vishwanath Pratap Singh
17 Inder Kumar Gujral
(1919–2012)
MP for Jalandhar
5 December
1989
10 November
1990
340 days
18 Chandra Shekhar
(1927–2007)
MP for Ballia

(Prime Minister)
10 November
1990
21 November
1990
11 days Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) Chandra Shekhar Chandra Shekhar
19 Vidya Charan Shukla
(1929–2013)
MP for Mahasamund
21 November
1990
20 February
1991
91 days
(18) Chandra Shekhar
(1927–2007)
MP for Ballia

(Prime Minister)
20 February
1991
21 June
1991
121 days
20 Madhavsinh Solanki
(1927–2021)
Rajya Sabha MP for Gujarat
21 June
1991
31 March
1992
284 days Indian National Congress (I) Rao P. V. Narasimha Rao
(11) P. V. Narasimha Rao
(1921–2004)
MP for Nandyal

(Prime Minister)
31 March
1992
18 January
1993
293 days
(7) Dinesh Singh
(1925–1995)
Rajya Sabha MP for Uttar Pradesh
18 January
1993
10 February
1995
2 years, 23 days
21 Pranab Mukherjee
(1935–2020)
Rajya MP for West Bengal
10 February
1995
16 May
1996
1 year, 96 days
(9) Atal Bihari Vajpayee
(1924–2018)
MP for Lucknow

(Prime Minister)
16 May
1996
21 May
1996
5 days Bharatiya Janata Party Vajpayee I Atal Bihari Vajpayee
22 Sikander Bakht
(1918–2004)
Rajya Sabha MP for Madhya Pradesh
21 May
1996
1 June
1996
11 days
(17) Inder Kumar Gujral
(1919–2012)
Rajya Sabha MP for Bihar

(Prime Minister from 21 April 1997)
1 June
1996
21 April
1997
1 year, 290 days Janata Dal Deve Gowda H. D. Deve Gowda
21 April
1997
18 March
1998
Gujral Self
(9) Atal Bihari Vajpayee
(1924–2018)
MP for Lucknow

(Prime Minister)
19 March
1998
5 December
1998
261 days Bharatiya Janata Party Vajpayee II Atal Bihari Vajpayee
23 Jaswant Singh
(1938–2020)
Rajya Sabha MP for Rajasthan
5 December
1998
13 October
1999
3 years, 208 days
13 October
1999
1 July
2002
Vajpayee III
24 Yashwant Sinha
(born 1937)
MP for Hazaribagh
1 July
2002
22 May
2004
1 year, 326 days
25 K. Natwar Singh
(1929–2024)
Rajya Sabha MP for Rajasthan
23 May
2004
6 November
2005
1 year, 167 days Indian National Congress Manmohan I Manmohan Singh
26 Manmohan Singh
(born 1932)
Rajya Sabha MP for Assam

(Prime Minister)
6 November
2005
24 October
2006
352 days
(21) Pranab Mukherjee
(1935–2020)
MP for Jangipur
24 October
2006
22 May
2009
2 years, 210 days
27 S. M. Krishna
(born 1932)
Rajya Sabha MP for Karnataka
23 May
2009
28 October
2012
3 years, 158 days Manmohan II
28 Salman Khurshid
(born 1953)
MP for Farrukhabad
28 October
2012
26 May
2014
1 year, 210 days
29 Sushma Swaraj
(1952–2019)
MP for Vidisha
26 May
2014
30 May
2019
5 years, 4 days Bharatiya Janata Party Modi I Narendra Modi
30 S. Jaishankar
(born 1955)
Rajya Sabha MP for Gujarat
31 May
2019
Incumbent 5 years, 154 days Modi II
Modi III

Ministers of State

[edit]
No. Portrait Minister
(Birth-Death)
Constituency
Term of office Political party Ministry Prime Minister
From To Period
1 Syed Mahmud
(1889–1971)
MP for Gopalganj
7 December
1954
17 April
1957
2 years, 131 days Indian National Congress Nehru II Jawaharlal Nehru
2 Lakshmi N. Menon
(1899–1994)
Rajya Sabha MP for Bihar
16 April
1962
24 January
1966
3 years, 283 days Indian National Congress Nehru IV
Nanda I Gulzarilal Nanda
Shastri Lal Bahadur Shastri
Nanda II Gulzarilal Nanda
3 Dinesh Singh
(1925–1995)
Rajya Sabha MP for Uttar Pradesh
24 January
1966
13 March
1967
1 year, 48 days Indira I Indira Gandhi
4 Bali Ram Bhagat
(1922–2011)
MP for Arrah
14 November
1967
14 February
1969
1 year, 92 days Indian National Congress Indira II
5 Surendra Pal Singh
(1917–2009)
MP for Bulandshahr
5 February
1973
10 October
1974
1 year, 247 days Indian National Congress (R) Indira III
6 Samarendra Kundu
(1930–?)
MP for Balasore
14 August
1977
28 July
1979
1 year, 348 days Janata Party Desai Morarji Desai
7 Bedabrata Barua
(born 1928)
MP for Kaliabor
4 August
1979
14 January
1980
163 days Indian National Congress (Urs) Charan Charan Singh
8 A. A. Rahim
(1920–1995)
MP for Chirayinkil
2 September
1982
31 October
1984
2 years, 59 days Indian National Congress (I) Indira IV Indira Gandhi
9 Ram Niwas Mirdha
(1924–2010)
Rajya Sabha MP for Rajasthan
2 August
1984
31 October
1984
90 days
(8) A. A. Rahim
(1920–1995)
MP for Chirayinkil
4 November
1984
31 December
1984
57 days Rajiv I Rajiv Gandhi
(9) Ram Niwas Mirdha
(1924–2010)
Rajya Sabha MP for Rajasthan
10 Khurshed Alam Khan
(1919–2013)
MP for Farrukhabad
31 December
1984
25 September
1985
268 days Rajiv II
11 K. R. Narayanan
(1921–2005)
MP for Ottapalam
25 September
1985
22 October
1986
1 year, 27 days
12 Eduardo Faleiro
(born 1940)
MP for Mormugao
12 May
1986
14 February
1988
1 year, 278 days
13 K. Natwar Singh
(1929–2024)
MP for Bharatpur
22 October
1986
2 December
1989
3 years, 41 days
14 Kamla Kant Tiwari
MP for Buxar
25 June
1988
22 April
1989
301 days
15 Hari Kishore Singh
(1934–2013)
MP for Sheohar
23 April
1990
10 November
1990
201 days Indian People's Front Vishwanath Vishwanath Pratap Singh
16 Eduardo Faleiro
(born 1940)
MP for Mormugao
21 June
1991
18 January
1993
1 year, 211 days Indian National Congress (I) Rao P. V. Narasimha Rao
17 R. L. Bhatia
(1920–2021)
MP for Amritsar
2 July
1992
16 May
1993
318 days
18 Salman Khurshid
(born 1953)
MP for Farrukhabad
18 January
1993
16 May
1996
3 years, 119 days
19 Saleem Iqbal Shervani
(born 1953)
MP for Badaun
9 June
1997
19 March
1998
332 days Samajwadi Party Gujral Inder Kumar Gujral
20 Kamala Sinha
(1932–2014)
Rajya Sabha MP for Bihar
Janata Dal
21 Vasundhara Raje
(born 1953)
MP for Jhalawar
20 March
1998
13 October
1999
1 year, 207 days Bharatiya Janata Party Vajpayee II Atal Bihari Vajpayee
22 Ajit Kumar Panja
(1936–2008)
MP for Calcutta North East
13 October
1999
16 March
2001
1 year, 154 days All India Trinamool Congress Vajpayee III
23 Krishnam Raju
(1940–2022)
MP for Narasapuram
30 September
2000
22 July
2001
295 days Bharatiya Janata Party
24 Omar Abdullah
(born 1970)
MP for Srinagar
22 July
2001
23 December
2002
1 year, 154 days Jammu and Kashmir National Conference
25 Digvijay Singh
(1955–2010)
MP for Banka
1 July
2002
22 May
2004
1 year, 326 days Janata Dal (United)
26 Vinod Khanna
(1946–2017)
MP for Gurdaspur
29 January
2003
22 May
2004
1 year, 114 days Bharatiya Janata Party
27 E. Ahamed
(1938–2017)
MP for Ponnani
23 May
2004
22 May
2009
4 years, 364 days Indian Union Muslim League Manmohan I Manmohan Singh
28 Rao Inderjit Singh
(born 1951)
MP for Mahendragarh
22 May
2004
29 January
2006
1 year, 252 days Indian National Congress
29 Anand Sharma
(born 1953)
Rajya Sabha MP for Himachal Pradesh
29 January
2006
22 May
2009
3 years, 113 days
30 Preneet Kaur
(born 1944)
MP for Patiala
28 May
2009
26 May
2014
4 years, 363 days Manmohan II
31 Shashi Tharoor
(born 1956)
MP for Thiruvananthapuram
28 May
2009
19 April
2010
326 days
32 E. Ahamed
(1938–2017)
MP for Malappuram
19 January
2011
26 May
2014
3 years, 127 days Indian Union Muslim League
33 General
V. K. Singh (Retd.)
PVSM AVSM YSM ADC
(born 1950)
MP for Ghaziabad
26 May
2014
30 May
2019
5 years, 4 days Bharatiya Janata Party Modi I Narendra Modi
34 M. J. Akbar
(born 1951)
Rajya Sabha MP for Madhya Pradesh
5 July
2016
17 October
2018
2 years, 104 days
35 V. Muraleedharan
(born 1958)
Rajya Sabha MP for Maharashtra
31 May
2019
9 June
2024
5 years, 9 days Modi II
36 Meenakshi Lekhi
(born 1967)
MP for New Delhi
7 July
2021
9 June
2024
2 years, 338 days
37 Rajkumar Ranjan Singh
(born 1952)
MP for Inner Manipur
7 July
2021
9 June
2024
2 years, 338 days
38 Kirti Vardhan Singh
(born 1966)
MP for Gonda
10 June
2024
Incumbent 144 days Modi III
39 Pabitra Margherita
(born 1974)
Rajya Sabha MP for Assam

Deputy Ministers

[edit]
No. Portrait Minister
(Birth-Death)
Constituency
Term of office Political party Ministry Prime Minister
From To Period
Deputy Minister of External Affairs and Commonwealth Relations
1 B. V. Keskar
(1903–1984)
MCA for Madras
7 December
1948
26 January
1950
1 year, 50 days Indian National Congress Nehru I Jawaharlal Nehru
Deputy Minister of External Affairs
(1) B. V. Keskar
(1903–1984)
MCA for Madras
31 January
1950
13 May
1952
2 years, 103 days Indian National Congress Nehru I Jawaharlal Nehru
2 Anil Kumar Chanda
(1906–1976)
MP for Birbhum
12 August
1952
17 April
1957
4 years, 262 days Indian National Congress Nehru II
17 April
1957
1 May
1957
Nehru III
3 Lakshmi N. Menon
(1899–1994)
Rajya Sabha MP for Bihar
17 April
1957
10 April
1962
4 years, 358 days
4 Dinesh Singh
(1925–1995)
MP for Pratapgarh
8 May
1962
27 May
1964
3 years, 261 days Indian National Congress Nehru IV
27 May
1964
9 June
1964
Nanda I Gulzarilal Nanda
15 June
1964
11 January
1966
Shastri Lal Bahadur Shastri
11 January
1966
24 January
1966
Nanda II Gulzarilal Nanda
5 Surendra Pal Singh
(1917–2009)
MP for Bulandshahr
18 March
1967
18 March
1971
5 years, 352 days Indian National Congress Indira II Indira Gandhi
Indian National Congress (R)
18 March
1971
5 February
1973
Indira III
6 Bipinpal Das
(1923–2005)
Rajya Sabha MP for Assam
17 October
1974
24 March
1977
2 years, 158 days
7 Digvijay Singh
(1955–2010)
Rajya Sabha MP for Bihar
28 November
1990
21 June
1991
205 days Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) Chandra Shekhar Chandra Shekhar

See also

[edit]

References

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