Sujatha Singh

Sujatha Singh
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 62)


India

Nationality Indian
Spouse(s) Sanjay Singh[1]

Sujatha Singh is an Indian career diplomat 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]

Family and education

Born 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

Singh 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

In 2013 Sujatha Singh succeeded Ranjan Mathai as Foreign Secretary of India.[9] She was appointed over S. Jaishankar, and assumed office on 1 August 2013. At the time the fact that she had never served as ambassador to any of India's neighbouring nations was seen as a challenge. Singh was the third female officer to head the Indian diplomatic corps after Chokila Iyer and Nirupama Rao. In the normal course, her term as Foreign Secretary would have ended in August 2015;[1][4][10] however, it was cut short by a government order on 28 Jan 2015[11] and she was succeeded by S. Jaishankar, who as Indian Ambassador to 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.[12][13]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Sujatha Singh to be India's next Foreign Secretary". The Hindu. 2 July 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  2. ↑ "Sujatha Singh takes charge as India's new foreign secretary". Business Standard. 1 August 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  3. 1 2 "Seniority prevails, Sujatha Singh is new Foreign Secy". The Tribune. 2 July 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  4. 1 2 "Sujatha Singh is India's next foreign secretary". Business Standard. 2 July 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  5. ↑ "Mrs Sujatha Singh, Ambassador of India, Embassy of India, Berlin". Embassy of India, Berlin. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  6. ↑ "Sujatha Singh to succeed Ranjan Mathai as foreign secretary". The Times of India. 3 July 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  7. ↑ "Sujatha Singh set to take her place in corner room". The New Indian Express. 30 June 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  8. ↑ "Sujatha Singh to replace Ranjan Mathai as Foreign Secretary". The New Indian Express. 3 July 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  9. ↑ "Sujata Singh rumoured as government's favourite to replace Mathai as foreign secretary". The Daily Mail. 28 March 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  10. ↑ "Sujatha Singh to be India's next Foreign Secretary". The Indian Express. 2 July 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  11. ↑ 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 from the original on 31 January 2015.
  12. ↑ "Sujatha Singh removed as foreign secretary, S Jaishankar appointed in her place".
  13. ↑ 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.
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