S Jaishankar, PM Modi’s unofficial foreign policy adviser

Dr Subramahmanyam Jaishankar, who got an year’s extension following his two year tenure as Foreign Secretary that ends this week, is as erudite as they come, even by the exalted standards of Indian Foreign Service. His junior colleagues and his mentors vouch for his “realistic view of foreign policy” among other skills. But in a power-charged New Delhi, what has proved most handy for this willy diplomat is altogether a different trait.
He has emerged as Modi’s unofficial foreign policy adviser and accompanied him to trips where foreign secretaries traditionally do not visit — Indian Ocean Region, Canada, South Korea, Africa, West Asia, SE Asia — accompanying the PM on his bilateral trips to these countries. His strength comes from his vast reading, articulation, knowledge of the subject and realistic view of foreign policy. He is a professional diplomat and this is the reason that even Manmohan Singh wanted to appoint him as Foreign Secretary in 2013.
And yes, there’s the personal chemistry that Jaishankar shares with the PM. Jaishankar caught Modi’s attention when the then Gujarat CM visited China in 2012. The meetings with important Chinese personalities that Jaishankar had fixed for Modi impressed him — the CM was not exactly a popular world leader then, especially with a US visa denial.
Jaishankar is a politically savvy diplomat who can adjust with any political leadership and its vision. Savvy may not be a synonym for political correctness, but there are at least a few who believe he could bridge the gap between MEA and PMO in India’s ambitious foreign policy moves. During the past two years, he has launched that process by initiating moves, including boosting MEA’s policy, planning and research division that will help decision makers prepare for the future.
While Indian envoys in few other countries that Modi visited in his stint as the CM did not give adequate protocol, Jaishankar proved different. PM’s chemistry with Jaishankar during Modi’s last September trip to the USA was visible to all. He is the man who is being largely credited for PM’s two successful meetings with President Barack Obama last September and last January in Delhi.
Narendra Modi wants to move fast, explore new ideas, wants to speed up India’s growth story and put India on the global map and showcase India’s power. Jaishankar fits that role as he floats ambitious ideas and stand by them — he has that strategic vision.
For a government that believes in simultaneous movements on multiple fronts — say, moving closer towards US without ruffling feathers in Russia — Jaishankar fits in well. He landed in the US as Indian envoy during the Devyani Khobragade episode and earned laurels in New Delhi for his deft handling of the crisis that could have embarrassed both India and the US if it had spun out of control. On the China front, no existing Indian diplomat can claim as his equal, Jaishankar being India’s longest-serving diplomat in Beijing. He engages with China and simultaneously asserts India’s national interests vis-a-vis Beijing’s ambitions.
Jaishankar himself explained this in as many words after taking charge in January 2015 when he was appointed after Sujatha Singh stepped down six months before her term ended. “My priorities are the government’s priorities. So, I think at this time let’s leave it at that…. This is a big responsibility,” said Jaishankar, a 1977-batch IFS-officer.
Son of one of the architects of India’s strategic affairs policy, K Subrahmanyam, Jayashankar had an early exposure to topics that are now his strengths. His siblings, Sanjay Subrahmanyam and Vijay Kumar, too have earned their share of fame as a noted historian and a top IAS officer, respectively.
His first brush with the US took place between 1981 and 1985 when he served as Under Secretary (Americas) and Policy Planning in MEA headquarters. He then spent three years from 1985 to 1988 as First Secretary handling political affairs at the Indian Embassy in Washington. Then as Joint Secretary (Americas) in MEA between 2004 and ‘07, Jaishankar was one of the key men behind the India-US civil nuclear deal.
Jaishankar has a view from other side of the global political spectrum. Few would remember that the Foreign Secretary had started his career in Moscow during the Soviet era in 1978 and he speaks Russian fluently. And Jaishankar, who had served in Tokyo between 1996 and 2000 as India’s Deputy Ambassador, is also credited with introducing Shinzo Abe to Manmohan Singh.
He was also behind the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement with Singapore when he was an envoy there. Yet another interesting fact about him is that Jaishankar had also served as a Press Secretary and speech writer to President Shankar Dayal Sharma besides being political adviser to the Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka between 1988 and ’90, giving him experience that few diplomats have.