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S Jaishankar, the current ambassador to the US, has been appointed the new foreign secretary only three days before he was due to retire.
Here are five facts about him:
Jaishankar comes from a well-known family. His father, K Subrahmanyam, is the acknowledged father of strategic thinking in India. One of his brothers, Sanjay Subrahmanyam, is a historian; another is a former rural development secretary, S Vijay Kumar.
His mother has a PhD in music, which she did from Delhi University, along with her younger son Sanjay who was studying history in the same university at that time.
Jaishankar is a student of the Jawaharlal Nehru University. He was junior to Sitaram Yechury and DP Tripathi but knows them well.
He is strict, has a wicked sense of humour and is very fond of old friends.
Had previously served as Indian Ambassador to the United States (2014–15), China (2009–13) and the Czech Republic (2001–04), and as High Commissioner to Singapore (2007–09). Had played a key role in negotiating the Indo-US civilian nuclear agreement.
