Proud to follow in Sushma Swaraj's footsteps, says MEA Dr S Jaishankar in first tweet

Newly-appointed Foreign Minister Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in his first tweet on Saturday remembered his predecessor Sushma Swaraj.

“My first tweet. Thank you all for the best wishes! Honoured to be given this responsibility. Proud to follow on the footsteps of @SushmaSwaraj ji,” he said.

In his second tweet, Jaishankar tagged his colleague Minister of State V Muraleedharan and said We at Team @MEAIndia continue to be at your service 24x7 Happy to be leading the effort with my colleague MoS Muraleedharan ji”

We at Team @MEAIndia continue to be at your service 24x7

Happy to be leading the effort with my colleague MoS Muraleedharan ji @VMBJP

— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) June 1, 2019

The 64-year-old senior diplomat was a surprise pick in the Modi cabinet 2.0. The 1977-batch IFS officer has served as a foreign secretary from 2015-2018. He's considered an expert on China and the US and was a key member of the Indian team which negotiated the landmark Indo-US nuclear deal.

However, the day portfolios were announced, Jaishankar's son Dhruva Jaishankar stole some of his limelight with tongue-in-cheek tweets. Responding to an apparently misplaced request to the new Foreign Affairs Minister for help regarding visa or passport, Dhruva said, "Dude. Wrong Twitter". This was followed by a humorous clarification from Dhruva in which he said, "And before anyone asks, I can absolutely not help anyone with their passport, visa, or getting-you-out-of-a-foreign-prison problems." Dhruva added, "I have plenty of those problems myself (other than the prisons - I try to stay clear of those)."