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S Jaishankar will assume the office as new Foreign Secretary today at 9:30 AM, He was appointed by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The decision curtailed the tenure of present Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh, whose two-year tenure was to end in August this year.

A late night official announcement said, "curtailment of tenure of Ms Sujatha Singh, IFS batch 1976 as FS with immediate effect".

"Appointment of S Jaishankar, IFS batch 1977, as Foreign Secretary vice MS Sujatha Singh with a tenure of two years from the date of assumption of charge or until further orders, whichever is earlier, in keeping with the provisions of FR-56(D)," the announcement said.

The unpredicted appointment has echoes of the sudden replacement of India's then foreign secretary AP Venkateswaran by then PM Rajiv Gandhi in January 1987. Rajiv Gandhi announced his decision to sack FS whiling speaking to TV channel, but AP Venkateswaran has submitted his written form of resignation before Rajiv Gandhi inked the move.

S Jaishankar has vast experience in various countries; he was India's ambassador to the US. Jaishankar was one of the key officials who negotiated the nuclear deal with the US as joint secretary (Americas) from 2004 to 2007 in the Ministry of External Affairs.

Before moving as envoy to the US, he was the envoy to China. There were speculations about his appointment as Foreign Secretary during the UPA reign in 2013, but Congress opted Sujatha Singh for the post.  

-Kannamsai