External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar formally joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday in the presence of party working president J P Nadda.
Jaishankar, a former foreign secretary, was inducted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his new government as external affairs minister. He replaced senior leader Sushma Swaraj, who decided not to contest this time.
“External Affairs Minister Shri @DrSJaishankar joined BJP in the presence of BJP National Working President Shri @JPNadda at BJP Parliamentary Office, New Delhi,” BJP party said in a tweet.
Jaishankar was sworn in as a Cabinet minister along with other members of the government on May 30.
The BJP is likely to field Jaishankar from Gujarat as its Rajya Sabha candidate. He has to be a Member of Parliament within six months of his swearing in.
Joined Indian Foreign Service (IFS) in 1977, he played a key role in negotiating the Indo-US civilian nuclear agreement.
Jaishankar today inaugurated the Passport Seva Diwas by felicitating Passport officials.
Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in a tweet, “EAM @DrSJaishankar inaugurated the Passport Seva Diwas by felicitating Passport officials. Underscored that revolution in passport services in the last five years will continue to be accorded high priority by #MEA #Passportrevolution.”
“Delighted to join #PassportSevaDivas celebration. @MOS_MEA & I are deeply grateful to Minister of Communications Sh @rsprasad ji & Dept of Posts for enabling us in our outreach efforts Such partnerships are the hallmark of the present govt,” Jaishankar tweeted.
He further said, “Last 5 years of passport services delivered by the Ministry constituted a “Passport Revolution”.The mandate of #TeamMEA is to ensure good governance & a transparent, efficient, timely, effective, reliable, assured and accountable public service delivery system.”
“@MOS_MEA joins me in felicitating all our Passport Issuing Authorities, who have strived to ensure transparent & efficient passport delivery systems. I call upon all of you to continue working towards providing good governance & implementing the policies of the Government,” Jaishankar added.
