Sujatha Singh (born July 1954) is an Indian civil servant of the IFS cadre who served as India's Foreign Secretary from August 2013 to January 2015. Previously she had been the Indian Ambassador to Germany (2012–2013).[2]
Sujatha Singh | |
|---|---|
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| 30th Foreign Secretary of India | |
| In office 1 August 2013 – 28 January 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Ranjan Mathai |
| Succeeded by | Subrahmanyam Jaishankar |
| Personal details | |
| Born | July 1954 (age 70) India |
| Spouse | Dr. Sanjay M. Singh[1] |
| Parents |
|
| Alma mater | Lady Shri Ram College Delhi School of Economics |
| Occupation | IFS |
| Profession | Civil Servant |
Family and education
editBorn in July 1954, Sujatha Singh is the daughter of the former Intelligence Bureau chief and, later, Governor T. V. Rajeswar. She is an alumna of the Lady Shri Ram College, New Delhi and the Delhi School of Economics from where she graduated in economics. She is married to Sanjay Singh, who is a retired Indian Foreign Service officer.[1][3][4]
Career
editSingh is an Indian Foreign Service officer of the 1976 batch. She is a German speaker and served in various positions at the Indian embassies at Bonn, Accra, Paris, and Bangkok. She was India's Consul general at Milan during 2000–04. She has also served as India's High Commissioner to Australia (2007–2012). In Delhi she has served on the Ministry's Economic Co-ordination Unit and dealt with Nepal, West Europe and the EU as director, undersecretary and joint secretary.[5] Her tenure as High Commissioner to Australia was marked by turbulence in Indo-Australian ties following racial attacks on Indian students and later by the Australian Labour Party's decision to make an exception for India regarding the sale of uranium. She has a reputation for toughness, volunteering as a liaison officer on a rain-hit Kailash Manasarovar Yatra in 1983,[6] taking a tough stance with the Australian authorities on dealing with the racial attacks against Indians there,[3] and, as joint secretary handling Western Europe, she advocated India's stance of not accepting prescriptive aid from small European Union nations.[7][8]
Foreign Secretary
editIn 2013, Sujatha Singh succeeded Ranjan Mathai as Foreign Secretary of India. Though Singh was senior by tenure, her appointment as foreign secretary over S. Jaishankar was criticised by citing her inexperience in holding key diplomatic offices. The fact that she had never served as ambassador to any of India's neighbouring nations, unlike Jaishankar, was seen as a challenge.
In the normal course, she should have retired from the Indian Foreign Service in July 2014 upon her 60th birthday, but appointments to the position of foreign secretary are usually made for a tenure of two years, and such was the case with her. She thus received an extension in service of thirteen months, and her two-year term as Foreign Secretary should have ended in August 2015.[1][4][9] However, a government order on 28 January 2015, issued by the newly elected government of Narendra Modi, terminated her extended service and appointed another person to the post of Foreign Secretary.[10] This was S. Jaishankar, who as Indian Ambassador to the United States had played a key role during Indian Prime Minister Modi's visit to the US, and in US President Obama's visit to India.[11][12]
References
edit- ^ a b c "Sujatha Singh to be India's next Foreign Secretary". The Hindu. 2 July 2013. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
- ^ "Sujatha Singh takes charge as India's new foreign secretary". Business Standard. 1 August 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
- ^ a b "Seniority prevails, Sujatha Singh is new Foreign Secy". The Tribune. 2 July 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
- ^ a b "Sujatha Singh is India's next foreign secretary". Business Standard. 2 July 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
- ^ "Mrs Sujatha Singh, Ambassador of India, Embassy of India, Berlin". Embassy of India, Berlin. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
- ^ "Sujatha Singh to succeed Ranjan Mathai as foreign secretary". The Times of India. 3 July 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
- ^ "Sujatha Singh set to take her place in corner room". The New Indian Express. 30 June 2013. Archived from the original on 18 March 2014. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
- ^ "Sujatha Singh to replace Ranjan Mathai as Foreign Secretary". The New Indian Express. 3 July 2013. Archived from the original on 18 March 2014. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
- ^ "Sujatha Singh to be India's next Foreign Secretary". The Indian Express. 2 July 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
- ^ Sharma, B. P., Secretariat of the Appoints Committee of the Cabinet (26 January 2015). "Minute" (PDF). Department of Personnel & Training, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pension, Government of India. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 January 2015.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Sujatha Singh removed as foreign secretary, S Jaishankar appointed in her place".
- ^ Singh, Neha (29 January 2015). "US Envoy S Jaishankar Replaces Sujata Singh as New Foreign Secretary; Cong Questions Timing". International Business Times, India Edition. Archived from the original on 31 January 2015.