Foreign Minister - Karan Singh or S M Krishna?

Senior Congress leader Karan Singh has emerged as the front-runner, along with another party veteran S M Krishna, for appointment as External Affairs Minister with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh saying  today that the slot will be filled on his return home within a week.

Karan Singh, who heads the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), is a member of the Rajya Sabha, and had been sent to Nepal as Prime Minister's special envoy recently to talk to King Gyanendra at the height of the crisis in the kingdom.

Hailing from the royal family of Jammu and Kashmir, 75-year old Singh was a union minister in Indira Gandhi's cabinet.

His name has also figured in the speculation for the office of President when A P J Abdul Kalam's tenure ends in July 2007.

Krishna, a former Karnataka Chief Minister, is currently Governor of Maharashtra, and is known to be a suave leader who helped Karnatka emerge as a major IT destination.