S Jaishankar retires; Vijay Gokhale takes charge as Foreign Secretary

Vijay Keshav Gokhale is the new Foreign Secretary.

NEW DELHI: Seasoned diplomat Vijay Keshav Gokhale, who played a key role in resolving the Doklam standoff with China, has taken charge as the new Foreign Secretary of India on Monday, succeeding S Jaishankar.

A 1981-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, Gokhale was Secretary (Economic Relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) before becoming the country's top diplomat.

Gokhale, considered an expert on China, had played a key role in negotiations to resolve the 73-day-long Doklam standoff between Indian and Chinese armies last year.

He was India's Ambassador to China from January 20, 2016, to October 21, 2017, before moving back to the MEA headquarters here.

Gokhale will have a two-year tenure as the foreign secretary. He has also served as India's top envoy to Germany between October 2013 and January 2016. He has worked in Indian missions in Hong Kong, Hanoi and in New York.

He has held the posts of director (China and East Asia) and then joint secretary (East Asia) in the MEA.

Earlier this month, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the appointment of Gokhale to the post of foreign secretary.

Jaishankar was appointed foreign secretary in January 2015, for two years, just a few days before his retirement, replacing Sujata Singh, whose term was abruptly curtailed by the government.

A 1977-batch IFS officer, Jaishankar was given a one-year extension in January last year.