Dr. S. Jaishankar has been India’s external affairs minister since 2019. He is also a member of the Upper House (Rajya Sabha) of India’s parliament from the state of Gujarat.
Jaishankar was previously foreign secretary (2015-2018); ambassador to the United States (2013-2015), China (2009-2013), and Czechia (2000-2004); and high commissioner to Singapore (2007-2009). He also served in other diplomatic assignments in Indian embassies in Moscow, Colombo, Budapest, and Tokyo, and in the Ministry of External Affairs and the president’s secretariat. He was appointed president of global corporate affairs at Tata Sons Private Limited in 2018.
Jaishankar is a graduate of St. Stephen’s College at the University of Delhi. He holds a master’s degree in political science and a PhD in international relations from Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi. He received the Padma Shri, a high Indian civilian award, in 2019. He is the author of “The India Way: Strategies for an Uncertain World” and “Why Bharat Matters”.