A surprise appointment to the top cadre of Prime Minister Modi’s new cabinet is its Foreign Minister. Unlike most in the cabinet, he is not a politician by profession; it is unusual for someone like him to directly reach the top echelons of power and status.
Subramanyam Jaishankar was born in New Delhi on January 15, 1957. His father, K. Subramaniam, was an Indian Civil Service officer. (The “ICS” was created by India’s British rulers to collect taxes and maintain order; it is now called the IAS or the Indian Administrative Service.)
Dr. S. Jaishankar has a PhD. in International Relations from Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi where he specialized in nuclear diplomacy. He is fluent in Hungarian, Japanese and Mandarin, in addition to his native Tamil, Hindi and English.
Jaishankar is a career Indian Foreign Service officer and was India’s Ambassador to the United States from 2013 to 2015 (see photograph at bottom of this post with him holding my book on India); he headed India’s mission in China immediately prior. Prime Minister Modi asked him to return to New Delhi as Foreign Secretary, India’s top civil service position dealing with external affairs.
One of India’s leading strategic analysts, Dr. Jaishankar was a key member of the Indian team that negotiated the landmark U.S.-India civil nuclear deal and was signed in October 2008 by President George W Bush. His relationship with the U.S. goes back thirty years when he served as Under Secretary (Americas) and Policy Planning in the ministry of external affairs headquarters between 1981 and 1985. He then spent three years from 1985 as First Secretary handling political affairs at the Indian embassy in Washington. Then, as Joint Secretary (Americas) between 2004 and 2007.
In early June, outlining the Modi government’s approach towards the neighborhood in its second term, S. Jaishankar said India should follow a generous policy and incentivize cooperation… by often stepping out and not emphasizing too much on reciprocity.
Last updated: December 26th, 2025
