Minister of External Affairs (India): Difference between revisions

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{{short description|Head of the Ministry of External Affairs}}
{{short description|Head of the Ministry of External Affairs}}
{{Distinguish|text=the [[Foreign Secretary (India)|Foreign Secretary of India]]}}
{{EngvarB|date=April 2020}}
{{EngvarB|date=April 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}}
{{Infobox political post
{{Infobox official post
| insignia = Emblem of India.svg
| post = Minister of External Affairs of the Republic of India
| insigniasize = 70px
| body =
| insigniacaption = [[Emblem of India]]
| native_name = {{transliteration|hi|Videś Mantrī}}
| flag = Flag of India.svg
| flagsize = 110px
| flagsize = 110px
| flagborder = yes
| flagcaption = [[Flag of India]]
| flagcaption = [[Flag of India]]
| insignia = Ministry of External Affairs India.svg
| insigniasize = 200px
| insigniacaption = [[Emblem of India]]
| image = Subrahmanyam Jaishankar (2024) (cropped).jpg
| imagesize = 200px
| alt =
| incumbent = [[S. Jaishankar]]
| incumbentsince = {{start date|2019|05|30|df=y}}
| type =
| status =
| department = [[Ministry of External Affairs (India)|Ministry of External Affairs]]
| department = [[Ministry of External Affairs (India)|Ministry of External Affairs]]
| post = {{big|Minister of External Affairs}}<br />''Videsh Mantrī''
| style =  
| image = Deputy Secretary Blinken Meets With Indian Foreign Secretary Jaishankar in New Delhi (22965989943) (3) (cropped).jpg
| member_of = [[Union Cabinet of India]]<br>[[Cabinet Committee on Security]]
| incumbent = [[Subrahmanyam Jaishankar]]
| reports_to = [[President of India]]<br>[[Prime Minister of India]]<br>[[Parliament of India]]
| incumbentsince = 30 May 2019
| residence =  
| appointer = [[President of India|President]] on the advice of the [[Prime Minister of India|Prime Minister]]
| seat =  
| inaugural = [[Jawaharlal Nehru]]
| nominator =  
| formation = 2 September 1946
| appointer = [[President of India]]
| appointer_qualified = on the recommendation of the [[Prime Minister of India|Prime Minister]]
| termlength = Five years (renewable)
| termlength_qualified =
| constituting_instrument =
| precursor =
| formation = {{start date|1947|df=y}}
| first = [[Jawaharlal Nehru]]
| last =
| abolished =
| succession =
| unofficial_names = Foreign Minister
| deputy = [[Minister of State for External Affairs (India)|Minister of State for External Affairs]]
| salary =
| abbreviation = MEA
| website =  
}}
}}
The '''Minister of External Affairs''' (or simply, the '''Foreign Minister''', in Hindi '''''Videsh Mantri''''') is the head of the [[Ministry of External Affairs (India)|Ministry of External Affairs]] of the [[Government of India]]. One of the senior-most offices in the [[Cabinet of India|Union Cabinet]], the chief responsibility of the Foreign Minister is to represent India and its government in the international community. The Foreign Minister also plays an important role in determining [[Indian foreign policy]]. Occasionally, the Foreign Minister is assisted by a Minister of State for External Affairs or the lower-ranked Deputy Minister of External Affairs.
The '''Minister of External Affairs''' (or simply the '''External Affairs Minister'''; ''Hindi:'' '''''Videsh Mantri''''') is the head of the [[Ministry of External Affairs (India)|Ministry of External Affairs]] of the [[Government of India]]. One of the senior-most offices in the [[Cabinet of India|union cabinet]], the chief responsibility of the minister of external affairs is to represent the government of India in the international community and advance its interests on the global stage. As such, the minister plays an important role in shaping and directing the country's [[Indian foreign policy|foreign policy]]. Typically, the minister is assisted by one or more junior ministers, known as Ministers of State (MoS) for External Affairs.
 
The role, created when India became [[Dominion of India|independent in August 1947]] as '''Minister of External and Commonwealth Affairs''', was held by India's first prime minister, [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] throughout his 17-year premiership; Nehru remains the longest serving external affairs minister followed by [[S. Jaishankar]], the incumbent minister. It was renamed Minister of External Affairs upon [[Constitution of India|India's becoming of a republic]] in 1950.


India's first Prime Minister, [[Jawaharlal Nehru]], also held the Foreign Minister post throughout his 17-year premiership of the country; he remains the country's longest-serving Foreign Minister. Several other Prime Ministers have since held the additional charge of foreign minister, but never has any other cabinet minister held additional charge of the office. There have been a number of Foreign Ministers who went on to become the Prime Minister like [[Atal Bihari Vajpayee]], [[P. V. Narasimha Rao]] and [[I. K. Gujral]].
Several other Prime Ministers have since held the additional charge as the Minister of External Affairs, but never has any other cabinet minister held additional charge of the office—although during Nehru's premiership, [[V. K. Krishna Menon]] was acknowledged as ''de facto'' minister of external affairs beyond his official designation as [[Minister of Defence (India)|defence minister]]. There have been a number of external affairs ministers who went on to become the prime minister like [[Atal Bihari Vajpayee]], [[P. V. Narasimha Rao]] and [[I. K. Gujral]]. Two former career-diplomats have served as ministers of external affairs, including [[Natwar Singh]] (2004{{ndash}}2005) who served as India's ambassador to Poland and as high commissioner to Pakistan, and the current minister [[S. Jaishankar]] who retired as the [[Foreign Secretary (India)|foreign secretary]]. Two other ministers, [[M. C. Chagla]] and [[I. K. Gujral]] also served as ambassadors, with Chagla serving as India's ambassador to the United States and high commissioner to the United Kingdom, while Gujral served as ambassador to the Soviet Union.


The current Minister of External Affairs is [[Subrahmanyam Jaishankar]], succeeding [[Sushma Swaraj]] of the [[Bharatiya Janata Party]] on 30 May 2019.
The current minister of external affairs is [[S. Jaishankar]], who succeeded [[Sushma Swaraj]] of the [[Bharatiya Janata Party]] on 30 May 2019.


==List of Foreign Ministers==
==Cabinet Ministers==
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width:70%;"
 
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! rowspan="2" colspan="2"| Portrait
! rowspan="2" style="width:18em" |Minister<br>{{small|(Birth-Death)<br>Constituency}}
! colspan="3" |Term of office
! rowspan="2" style="width:8em" |Political party
! rowspan="2" style="width:6em" | Ministry
! rowspan="2" colspan="2" |Prime Minister
|-
|-
!№
! style="width:9em"| From
! width="75" |Portrait
! style="width:9em"| To
! Name
! style="width:6em"| Period
! colspan="2"|Term of office
|-
!Length
! colspan="10"| Minister of External and Commonwealth Affairs
! colspan="2"|Political party<br /><small>(Alliance)</small>
|-
! Prime Minister
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
|- style="text-align:center; text-align:center;"
| [[File:Jawaharlal Nehru close-up (cropped).jpg|70px]]
|1
| '''[[Jawaharlal Nehru]]'''<br/>{{small|(1889{{ndash}}1964)<br/>MCA for [[United Provinces (1937–1950)|United Provinces]]}}<br>(Prime Minister)
| [[File:Jnehru.jpg|75px]]
| [[Jawaharlal Nehru]]
| 15 August 1947
| 15 August 1947
| 27 May 1964
| 26 January 1950
|{{Ayd|15 august 1947|27 may 1964}}
| {{ayd|15 Aug 1947|26 Jan 1950}}
| rowspan="9"| [[Indian National Congress]]
| [[Indian National Congress]]
|width="4px" bgcolor="{{Indian National Congress/meta/color}}" rowspan=9|
| [[First Nehru ministry|Nehru I]]
| [[Jawaharlal Nehru]]
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
|- align=center
| style="width:7em"| Self
|2
|-
| [[File:Gulzarilal Nanda (cropped).jpg|75px]]
! colspan="10"| Minister of External Affairs
| [[Gulzarilal Nanda]]
|-
| rowspan="4" bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
| rowspan="4"| [[File:Jawaharlal Nehru close-up (cropped).jpg|70px]]
| rowspan="4"| '''[[Jawaharlal Nehru]]'''<br>{{small|(1889{{ndash}}1964)<br>MCA for [[United Provinces (1937–1950)|United Provinces]] (till 1952)<br>MP for [[Phulpur Lok Sabha constituency|Phulpur]] (from 1952)}}<br>(Prime Minister)
| rowspan="4"| 26 January 1950
| rowspan="4"| 27 May 1964{{ref label|†|†|†}}
| rowspan="4"| {{ayd|1950|1|26|1964|5|27}}
| rowspan="12"| [[Indian National Congress]]
| [[First Nehru ministry|Nehru I]]
| rowspan="4" bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
| rowspan="4"| Self
|-
| [[Second Nehru ministry|Nehru II]]
|-
| [[Third Nehru ministry|Nehru III]]
|-
| [[Fourth Nehru ministry|Nehru IV]]
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
| [[File:Gulzarilal Nanda 1.jpg|70px]]
| '''[[Gulzarilal Nanda]]'''<br>{{small|(1898{{ndash}}1998)<br>MP for [[Sabarkantha Lok Sabha constituency|Sabarkantha]]}}<br>(Prime Minister)
| 27 May 1964
| 27 May 1964
| 9 June 1964
| 9 June 1964
|{{Ayd|27 may 1964|9 june 1964}}
| {{ayd|1964|5|27|1964|6|9}}
| [[Gulzarilal Nanda]]<br />(acting)
| [[First Nanda ministry|Nanda I]]
|- align=center
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
|3
| Self
| [[File:Lal_Bahadur_Shastri_(from_stamp).jpg|75px]]
|-
| [[Lal Bahadur Shastri]]
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
| [[File:Lal Bahadur Shastri (from stamp).jpg|70px]]
| '''[[Lal Bahadur Shastri]]'''<br>{{small|(1904{{ndash}}1966)<br>MP for [[Allahabad Lok Sabha constituency|Allahabad]]}}<br>(Prime Minister)
| 9 June 1964
| 9 June 1964
| 17 July 1964
| 17 July 1964
|{{Ayd|9 june 1964|17 july 1964}}
| {{ayd|1964|6|9|1964|7|17}}
| [[Lal Bahadur Shastri]]
| rowspan="2"| [[Shastri ministry|Shastri]]
|- align=center
| rowspan="2" bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
|4
| rowspan="2"| [[Lal Bahadur Shastri]]
|
|-
| [[Swaran Singh]]
| rowspan="3" bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
| 18 July 1964
| rowspan="3"| [[File:Swaran Singh Lok Sabha photo.jpg|70px]]
| rowspan="3"| '''[[Swaran Singh]]'''<br>{{small|(1907{{ndash}}1994)<br>MP for [[Jalandhar Lok Sabha constituency|Jullundur]]}}
| 17 July 1964
| 11 January 1966
| rowspan="3"| {{ayd|1964|7|17|1966|11|14}}
|-
| 11 January 1966
| 24 January 1966
| [[Second Nanda ministry|Nanda II]]
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
| [[Gulzarilal Nanda]]
|-
| 24 January 1966
| 14 November 1966
| 14 November 1966
|{{Ayd|18 july 1964|14 november 1966}}
| rowspan="2"| [[First Indira Gandhi ministry|Indira I]]
| [[Lal Bahadur Shastri]]<br />[[Indira Gandhi]]
| rowspan="4" bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
|- align=center
| rowspan="8"| [[Indira Gandhi]]
|5
|-
| [[File:Mohamed Ali Currim Chagla.jpg |75px]]
| rowspan="2" bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
| [[M. C. Chagla]]
| rowspan="2"| [[File:Mohamed Ali Currim Chagla.jpg|70px]]
| rowspan="2"| '''[[M. C. Chagla]]'''<br>{{small|(1900{{ndash}}1981)<br>Rajya Sabha MP for [[Maharashtra]]}}
| 14 November 1966
| 14 November 1966
| 13 March 1967
| rowspan="2"| {{ayd|1966|11|14|1967|9|5}}
|-
| 13 March 1967
| 5 September 1967
| 5 September 1967
|{{Ayd|14 november 1966|5 september 1967}}
| rowspan="4"| [[Second Indira Gandhi ministry|Indira II]]
| rowspan="5"| [[Indira Gandhi]]
|-
|- align=center
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
|6
| [[File:Indira Gandhi official portrait.png|70px]]
| [[File:Indira Gandhi 1977.jpg|75px]]
| '''[[Indira Gandhi]]'''<br>{{small|(1917{{ndash}}1984)<br>MP for [[Rae Bareli Lok Sabha constituency|Rae Bareli]]}}<br>(Prime Minister)
| [[Indira Gandhi]]
| 6 September 1967
| 6 September 1967
| 13 February 1969
| 13 February 1969
|{{Ayd|6 september 1967|13 february 1969}}
| {{ayd|1967|9|6|1969|2|13}}
|- align=center
|-
|7
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress (R)}}"|
|  
| [[File:Dinesh Singh Lok Sabha portrait.gif|70px]]
| [[Dinesh Singh (Uttar Pradesh politician)|Dinesh Singh]]
| '''[[Dinesh Singh (politician, born 1925)|Dinesh Singh]]'''<br>{{small|(1925{{ndash}}1995)<br>MP for [[Pratapgarh Lok Sabha constituency|Pratapgarh]]}}
| 14 February 1969
| 14 February 1969
| 27 June 1970
| 27 June 1970
|{{Ayd|14 february 1969|27 june 1970}}
| {{ayd|1969|2|14|1970|6|27}}
|- align=center
| rowspan="4"| [[Indian National Congress (R)]]
|(4)
| rowspan="4" bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress (R)}}"|
|
|-
| [[Sardar Swaran Singh|Swaran Singh]]
| rowspan="2" bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress (R)}}"|
| rowspan="2"| [[File:Swaran Singh Lok Sabha photo.jpg|70px]]
| rowspan="2"| '''[[Swaran Singh]]'''<br>{{small|(1907{{ndash}}1994)<br>MP for [[Jalandhar Lok Sabha constituency|Jullundur]]}}
| 27 June 1970
| 27 June 1970
| 18 March 1971
| rowspan="2"| {{ayd|1970|6|27|1974|10|10}}
|-
| 18 March 1971
| 10 October 1974
| 10 October 1974
|{{Ayd|27 june 1970|10 october 1974}}
| rowspan="2"| [[Third Indira Gandhi ministry|Indira III]]
|- align=center
|-
|8
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress (R)}}"|
| [[File:Yashwantrao Chavan.jpg|75px]]
| [[File:Yashwantrao Chavan.jpg|70px]]
| [[Yashwantrao Chavan]]
| '''[[Yashwantrao Chavan]]'''<br>{{small|(1913{{ndash}}1984)<br>MP for [[Satara Lok Sabha constituency|Satara]]}}
| 10 October 1974
| 10 October 1974
| 24 March 1977
| 24 March 1977
|{{Ayd|10 october 1974|24 march 1977}}
| {{ayd|1974|10|10|1977|3|24}}
|- align=center
|-
|9
| style="background:{{party color|Janata Party}}"|
| [[File:The Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee delivering his speech at the 12th SAARC Summit in Islamabad, Pakistan on January 4, 2004 (1) (cropped).jpg|75px]]
| [[File:Atal Bihari Vajpayee (crop 2).jpg|70px]]
| [[Atal Bihari Vajpayee]]
| '''[[Atal Bihari Vajpayee]]'''<br>{{small|(1924{{ndash}}2018)<br>MP for [[New Delhi Lok Sabha constituency|New Delhi]]}}
| 26 March 1977
| 26 March 1977
| 28 July 1979
| 28 July 1979
|{{Ayd|26 march 1977|28 july 1979}}
| {{ayd|1977|3|26|1979|7|28}}
| [[Janata Party]]
| [[Janata Party]]
|width="4px" bgcolor="{{Janata Party/meta/color}}" |
| [[Morarji Desai ministry|Desai]]
| style="background:{{party color|Janata Party}}"|
| [[Morarji Desai]]
| [[Morarji Desai]]
|- align=center
|-
|10
| style="background:{{party color|Janata Party (Secular)}}; color:white"|
|
| [[File:Shyam Nandan Prasad Mishra portrait.gif|70px]]
| [[Shyam Nandan Prasad Mishra]]
| '''[[Shyam Nandan Prasad Mishra]]'''<br>{{small|(1920{{ndash}}2004)<br>MP for [[Begusarai Lok Sabha constituency|Begusarai]]}}
| 28 July 1979
| 28 July 1979
| 14 January 1980
| 14 January 1980
|{{Ayd|28 july 1979|14 january 1980}}
| {{ayd|1979|7|28|1980|1|14}}
| [[Janata Party (Secular)]]
| [[Janata Party (Secular)]]
|width="4px" bgcolor="{{Janata Party (Secular)/meta/color}}" |
| [[Charan Singh ministry|Charan]]
| style="background:{{party color|Janata Party (Secular)}}"|
| [[Charan Singh]]
| [[Charan Singh]]
|- align=center
|-
|11
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
| [[File:P. V. Narasimha Rao.JPG|83x83px]]
| [[File:Visit of Narasimha Rao, Indian Minister for Foreign Affairs, to the CEC (cropped)(2).jpg|70px]]
| [[P. V. Narasimha Rao]]
| '''[[P. V. Narasimha Rao]]'''<br>{{small|(1921{{ndash}}2004)<br>MP for [[Hanamkonda Lok Sabha constituency|Hanamkonda]]}}
| 14 January 1980
| 14 January 1980
| 19 July 1984
| 19 July 1984
|{{Ayd|14 january 1980|19 july 1984}}
| {{ayd|1980|1|14|1984|7|19}}
|rowspan="8"| [[Indian National Congress]]
| rowspan="10"| [[Indian National Congress]]
|width="4px" bgcolor="{{Indian National Congress/meta/color}}" rowspan=8|
| rowspan="3"| [[Fourth Indira Gandhi ministry|Indira IV]]
|rowspan="2"| [[Indira Gandhi]]
| rowspan="3" bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|  
|- align=center
| rowspan="3"| [[Indira Gandhi]]
|(6)
|-
| [[File:Indira Gandhi 1977.jpg|75px]]
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
| [[Indira Gandhi]]
| [[File:Indira Gandhi official portrait.png|70px]]
| '''[[Indira Gandhi]]'''<br>{{small|(1917{{ndash}}1984)<br>MP for [[Medak Lok Sabha constituency|Medak]]}}<br>(Prime Minister)
| 19 July 1984
| 19 July 1984
| 31 October 1984{{note label|†|†|†}}
| {{ayd|1984|7|19|1984|10|31}}
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress (I)}}"|
| [[File:Shankarrao Chavan 2007 stamp of India (cropped).jpg|70px]]
| '''[[Shankarrao Chavan]]'''<br>{{small|(1920{{ndash}}2004)<br>MP for [[Nanded Lok Sabha constituency|Nanded]]}}<br/>(Minister without portfolio assisting the Prime Minister)
| 19 July 1984
| 2 August 1984
| {{ayd|19 Jul 1984|2 Aug 1984}}
|-
| rowspan="2" bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
| rowspan="2"| [[File:RajivGandhi.jpg|70px]]
| rowspan="2"| '''[[Rajiv Gandhi]]'''<br>{{small|(1944{{ndash}}1991)<br>MP for [[Amethi Lok Sabha constituency|Amethi]]}}<br>(Prime Minister)
| 31 October 1984
| 31 October 1984
|{{Ayd|19 july 1984|31 october 1984}}
| 31 December 1984
|- align=center
| rowspan="2"| {{ayd|1984|10|31|1985|9|24}}
|12
| [[First Rajiv Gandhi ministry|Rajiv I]]
| [[File:Rajiv Gandhi (1987).jpg|75px]]
| rowspan="7" bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
| [[Rajiv Gandhi]]
| rowspan="7"| [[Rajiv Gandhi]]
| 31 October 1984
|-
| 31 December 1984
| 24 September 1985
| rowspan="6"| [[Second Rajiv Gandhi ministry|Rajiv]]
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
| [[File:Bali Ram Bhagat portrait.gif|70px]]
| '''[[Bali Ram Bhagat]]'''<br>{{small|(1922{{ndash}}2011)<br>MP for [[Arrah Lok Sabha constituency|Arrah]]}}
| 24 September 1985
| 24 September 1985
|{{Ayd|31 october 1984|24 september 1985}}
| rowspan="6"| [[Rajiv Gandhi]]
|- align=center
|13
| [[File:B.R. Bhagat in a meeting (cropped).png|75px]]
| [[Bali Ram Bhagat]]
| 25 September 1985
| 12 May 1986
| 12 May 1986
|{{Ayd|24 september 1985|12 may 1986}}
| {{ayd|1985|9|24|1986|5|12}}
|- align=center
|-
|14
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress (I)}}"|
|
| [[File:P. Shiv Shankar (cropped).jpg|70px]]
| [[P. Shiv Shankar]]
| '''[[P. Shiv Shankar]]'''<br>{{small|(1929{{ndash}}2017)<br>Rajya Sabha MP for [[Gujarat]]}}
| 12 May 1986
| 12 May 1986
| 22 October 1986
| 22 October 1986
|{{Ayd|12 may 1986|22 october 1986}}
| {{ayd|1986|5|12|1986|10|22}}
|- align=center
|-
|15
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress (I)}}"|
| [[File:Shri Narayan Dutt Tiwari.jpg|75px]]
| [[File:Shri Narayan Dutt Tiwari.jpg|70px]]
| [[N. D. Tiwari]]
| '''[[N. D. Tiwari]]'''<br>{{small|(1925{{ndash}}2018)<br>Rajya Sabha MP for [[Uttar Pradesh]]}}
| 22 October 1986
| 22 October 1986
| 25 July 1987
| 25 July 1987
|{{Ayd|22 october 1986|25 july 1987}}
| {{ayd|1986|10|22|1987|7|25}}
|- align=center
|-
|(12)
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress (I)}}"|
| [[File:Rajiv Gandhi (1987).jpg|75px]]
| [[File:RajivGandhi.jpg|70px]]
| [[Rajiv Gandhi]]
| '''[[Rajiv Gandhi]]'''<br>{{small|(1944{{ndash}}1991)<br>MP for [[Amethi Lok Sabha constituency|Amethi]]}}<br>(Prime Minister)
| 25 July 1987
| 25 July 1987
| 25 June 1988
| 25 June 1988
|{{Ayd|25 july 1987|25 june 1988}}
| {{ayd|1987|7|25|1988|6|25}}
|- align=center
|-
|(11)
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress (I)}}"|
| [[File:P. V. Narasimha Rao.JPG|83x83px]]
| [[File:Visit of Narasimha Rao, Indian Minister for Foreign Affairs, to the CEC (cropped)(2).jpg|70px]]
| [[P. V. Narasimha Rao]]
| '''[[P. V. Narasimha Rao]]'''<br>{{small|(1921{{ndash}}2004)<br>MP for [[Ramtek Lok Sabha constituency|Ramtek]]}}
| 25 June 1988
| 25 June 1988
| 2 December 1989
| 2 December 1989
|{{Ayd|25 june 1988|2 december 1989}}
| {{ayd|1988|6|25|1989|12|2}}
|- align=center
|-
|16
| style="background:{{party color|Janata Dal}}"|
| [[File:V. P. Singh (cropped).jpg|75px]]
| [[File:V. P. Singh (cropped).jpg|70px]]
| [[V. P. Singh]]
| '''[[V. P. Singh]]'''<br>{{small|(1931{{ndash}}2008)<br>MP for [[Fatehpur Lok Sabha constituency|Fatehpur]]}}<br>(Prime Minister)
| 2 December 1989
| 2 December 1989
| 5 December 1989
| 5 December 1989
|{{Ayd|2 december 1989|5 december 1989}}
| {{ayd|1989|12|2|1989|12|5}}
| rowspan="2"| [[Janata Dal]]<br /><small>([[National Front (India)|National Front]])</small>
| rowspan="2"| [[Janata Dal]]
|width="4px" bgcolor="{{Janata Dal/meta/color}}" rowspan=2|
| rowspan="2"| [[V. P. Singh ministry|Vishwanath]]
| rowspan="2" style="background:{{party color|Janata Dal}}"|
| rowspan="2"| [[V. P. Singh]]
| rowspan="2"| [[V. P. Singh]]
|- align=center
|-
|17
| style="background:{{party color|Janata Dal}}"|
| [[File:Inder Kumar Gujral 071.jpg|75px]]
| [[File:Inder Kumar Gujral 071.jpg|70px]]
| [[I. K. Gujral]]
| '''[[Inder Kumar Gujral]]'''<br>{{small|(1919{{ndash}}2012)<br>MP for [[Jalandhar Lok Sabha constituency|Jalandhar]]}}
| 5 December 1989
| 5 December 1989
| 10 November 1990
| 10 November 1990
|{{Ayd|5 december 1989|10 november 1990}}
| {{ayd|1989|12|5|1990|11|10}}
|- align=center
|-
|18
| bgcolor="{{party color|Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya)}}"|
|[[File:Chandra Shekhar Singh.jpg|75px]]
| [[File:Chandra Shekhar Singh.jpg|70px]]
| [[Chandra Shekhar]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://eparlib.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/759802/1/Council_of_Ministers_English.pdf|title=Council of Ministers}}</ref>
| '''[[Chandra Shekhar]]'''<br>{{small|(1927{{ndash}}2007)<br>MP for [[Ballia Lok Sabha constituency|Ballia]]}}<br>(Prime Minister)
| 10 November 1990
| 10 November 1990
| 21 November 1990
| 21 November 1990
|{{Ayd|10 november 1990|21 november 1990}}
| {{ayd|1990|11|10|1990|11|21}}
|rowspan=3| [[Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya)]]<br /><small>
| rowspan="3"| [[Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya)]]
|width="4px" bgcolor="{{Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya)/meta/color}}" rowspan=3 |
| rowspan="3"| [[Chandra Shekhar ministry|Chandra Shekhar]]
| rowspan=3|[[Chandra Shekhar]]
| rowspan="3" bgcolor="{{party color|Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya)}}"|
|- align=center
| rowspan="3"| [[Chandra Shekhar]]
|19
|-
|
| bgcolor="{{party color|Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya)}}"|
| [[Vidya Charan Shukla]]
| [[File:Vidya Charan Shukla (cropped).jpg|70px]]
| '''[[Vidya Charan Shukla]]'''<br>{{small|(1929{{ndash}}2013)<br>MP for [[Mahasamund Lok Sabha constituency|Mahasamund]]}}
| 21 November 1990
| 21 November 1990
| 20 February 1991
| 20 February 1991
|{{Ayd|21 november 1990|20 february 1991}}
| {{ayd|1990|11|21|1991|2|20}}
|- align=center
|-
|(18)
| bgcolor="{{party color|Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya)}}"|
|[[File:Chandra Shekhar Singh.jpg|75px]]
| [[File:Chandra Shekhar Singh.jpg|70px]]
| [[Chandra Shekhar]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://eparlib.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/759802/1/Council_of_Ministers_English.pdf|title=Council of Ministers}}</ref>
| '''[[Chandra Shekhar]]'''<br>{{small|(1927{{ndash}}2007)<br>MP for [[Ballia Lok Sabha constituency|Ballia]]}}<br>(Prime Minister)
| 20 February 1991
| 20 February 1991
| 21 June 1991
| 21 June 1991
|{{Ayd|20 february 1991|21 june 1991}}
| {{ayd|1991|2|20|1991|6|21}}
|- align=center
|-
|20
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
|
| [[File:Madhavsinh Solanki.jpg|70px]]
| [[Madhavsinh Solanki]]
| '''[[Madhavsinh Solanki]]'''<br>{{small|(1927{{ndash}}2021)<br>Rajya Sabha MP for [[Gujarat]]}}
| 21 June 1991
| 21 June 1991
| 31 March 1992
| 31 March 1992
|{{Ayd|21 june 1991|31 march 1992}}
| {{ayd|1991|6|21|1992|3|31}}
| rowspan="4"|[[Indian National Congress]]
| rowspan="4"| [[Indian National Congress]]
|width="4px" bgcolor="{{Indian National Congress/meta/color}}" rowspan=4|
| rowspan="4"| [[Rao ministry|Rao]]
| rowspan="4" bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
| rowspan="4"| [[P. V. Narasimha Rao]]
| rowspan="4"| [[P. V. Narasimha Rao]]
|- align=center
|-
|(11)
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
| [[File:P. V. Narasimha Rao.JPG|83x83px]]
| [[File:Visit of Narasimha Rao, Indian Minister for Foreign Affairs, to the CEC (cropped)(2).jpg|70px]]
| [[P. V. Narasimha Rao]]
| '''[[P. V. Narasimha Rao]]'''<br>{{small|(1921{{ndash}}2004)<br>MP for [[Nandyal Lok Sabha constituency|Nandyal]]}}<br>(Prime Minister)
| 31 March 1992
| 31 March 1992
| 18 January 1993
| 18 January 1993
|{{Ayd|31 march 1992|18 january 1993}}
| {{ayd|1992|3|31|1993|1|18}}
|- align=center
|-
|(7)
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
|  
| [[File:Dinesh Singh Lok Sabha portrait.gif|70px]]
| [[Dinesh Singh (Uttar Pradesh politician)|Dinesh Singh]]
| '''[[Dinesh Singh (politician, born 1925)|Dinesh Singh]]'''<br>{{small|(1925{{ndash}}1995)<br>Rajya Sabha MP for [[Uttar Pradesh]]}}
| 18 January 1993
| 18 January 1993
| 10 February 1995
| 10 February 1995
|{{Ayd|18 january 1993|10 february 1995}}
| {{ayd|1993|1|18|1995|2|10}}
|- align=center
|-
|21
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress (I)}}"|
| [[File:Pranab Mukherjee-World Economic Forum Annual Meeting Davos 2009 crop(2).jpg|75px]]
| [[File:Pranab Mukherjee Portrait (cropped).jpg|70px]]
| [[Pranab Mukherjee]]
| '''[[Pranab Mukherjee]]'''<br>{{small|(1935{{ndash}}2020)<br>Rajya MP for [[West Bengal]]}}
| 10 February 1995
| 10 February 1995
| 16 May 1996
| 16 May 1996
|{{Ayd|10 february 1995|16 may 1996}}
| {{ayd|1995|2|10|1996|5|16}}
|- align=center
|-
|22
| bgcolor="{{party color|Bharatiya Janata Party}}"|
|
| [[File:Atal Bihari Vajpayee tribute image (cropped).jpg|70px]]
| [[Sikander Bakht]]
| '''[[Atal Bihari Vajpayee]]'''<br>{{small|(1924{{ndash}}2018)<br>MP for [[Lucknow Lok Sabha constituency|Lucknow]]}}<br>(Prime Minister)
| 16 May 1996
| 21 May 1996
| {{ayd|1996|5|16|1996|5|21}}
| rowspan="2"| [[Bharatiya Janata Party]]
| rowspan="2"| [[First Vajpayee ministry|Vajpayee I]]
| rowspan="2" bgcolor="{{party color|Bharatiya Janata Party}}"|
| rowspan="2"| [[Atal Bihari Vajpayee]]
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Bharatiya Janata Party}}"|
| [[File:Sikander Bakht Lok Sabha photo.jpg|70px]]
| '''[[Sikander Bakht]]'''<br>{{small|(1918{{ndash}}2004)<br>Rajya Sabha MP for [[Madhya Pradesh]]}}
| 21 May 1996
| 21 May 1996
| 1 June 1996
| 1 June 1996
|{{Ayd|21 may 1996|1 june 1996}}
| {{ayd|1996|5|21|1996|6|1}}
| [[Bharatiya Janata Party]]
|-
|width="4px" bgcolor="{{Bharatiya Janata Party/meta/color}}" |
| rowspan="2" style="background:{{party color|Janata Dal}}"|
| [[Atal Bihari Vajpayee]]
| rowspan="2"| [[File:Inder Kumar Gujral 071.jpg|70px]]
|- align=center
| rowspan="2"| '''[[Inder Kumar Gujral]]'''<br>{{small|(1919{{ndash}}2012)<br>Rajya Sabha MP for [[Bihar]]}}<br>(Prime Minister from 21 April 1997)
|(17)
| [[File:Inder Kumar Gujral 071.jpg|75px]]
| [[I. K. Gujral]]
| 1 June 1996
| 1 June 1996
| 18 March 1998
| 21 April 1997
|{{Ayd|1 june 1996|19 march 1998}}
| rowspan="2"| {{ayd|1996|6|1|1998|3|18}}
| [[Janata Dal]]<br /><small>([[United Front (India)|United Front]])</small>
| rowspan="2"| [[Janata Dal]]
|width="4px" bgcolor="{{Janata Dal/meta/color}}" |
| [[Deve Gowda ministry|Deve Gowda]]
| [[H. D. Deve Gowda]]<br />[[I. K. Gujral]]
| style="background:{{party color|Janata Dal}}"|
|- align=center
| [[H. D. Deve Gowda]]
|(9)
|-
| [[File:The Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee delivering his speech at the 12th SAARC Summit in Islamabad, Pakistan on January 4, 2004 (1) (cropped).jpg|75px]]
| 21 April 1997
| [[Atal Bihari Vajpayee]]
| 19 March 1998
| [[Gujral ministry|Gujral]]
| style="background:{{party color|Janata Dal}}"|
| Self
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Bharatiya Janata Party}}"|
| [[File:Atal Bihari Vajpayee tribute image (cropped).jpg|70px]]
| '''[[Atal Bihari Vajpayee]]'''<br>{{small|(1924{{ndash}}2018)<br>MP for [[Lucknow Lok Sabha constituency|Lucknow]]}}<br>(Prime Minister)
| 19 March 1998
| 19 March 1998
| 5 December 1998
| 5 December 1998
|{{Ayd|19 march 1998|5 december 1998}}
| {{ayd|1998|3|19|1998|12|5}}
|rowspan="3"| [[Bharatiya Janata Party]]<br /><small>([[National Democratic Alliance (India)|National Democratic Alliance]])</small>
| rowspan="4"| [[Bharatiya Janata Party]]
|width="4px" bgcolor="{{Bharatiya Janata Party/meta/color}}" rowspan=3|
| rowspan="2"| [[Second Vajpayee ministry|Vajpayee II]]
|rowspan="3"| [[Atal Bihari Vajpayee]]
| rowspan="4" bgcolor="{{party color|Bharatiya Janata Party}}"|
|- align=center
| rowspan="4"| [[Atal Bihari Vajpayee]]
|23
|-
| [[File:Jaswant Singh (cropped).jpg|75px]]
| rowspan="2" bgcolor="{{party color|Bharatiya Janata Party}}"|
| [[Jaswant Singh]]
| rowspan="2"| [[File:Jaswant Singh in 2001.jpg|70px]]
| rowspan="2"| '''[[Jaswant Singh]]'''<br>{{small|(1938{{ndash}}2020)<br>Rajya Sabha MP for [[Rajasthan]]}}
| 5 December 1998
| 5 December 1998
| 13 October 1999
| rowspan="2"| {{ayd|1998|12|5|2002|7|1}}
|-
| 13 October 1999
| 1 July 2002
| 1 July 2002
|{{Ayd|5 december 1998|1 july 2002}}
| rowspan="2"| [[Third Vajpayee ministry|Vajpayee III]]
|- align=center
|-
|24
| bgcolor="{{party color|Bharatiya Janata Party}}"|
| [[File:Yashwant Sinha IMF.jpg|75px]]
| [[File:Yashwant Sinha IMF.jpg|70px]]
| [[Yashwant Sinha]]
| '''[[Yashwant Sinha]]'''<br>{{small|(born 1937)<br>MP for [[Hazaribagh Lok Sabha constituency|Hazaribagh]]}}
| 1 July 2002
| 1 July 2002
| 22 May 2004
| 22 May 2004
|{{Ayd|1 july 2002|22 may 2004}}
| {{ayd|2002|7|1|2004|5|22}}
|- align=center
|-
|25
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
| [[File:K Natwar Singh.jpg|75px]]
| [[File:K. Natwar Singh 2005.jpg|70px]]
| [[Natwar Singh]]
| '''[[Natwar Singh]]'''<br>{{small|(1931{{ndash}}2024)<br>Rajya Sabha MP for [[Rajasthan]]}}
| 22 May 2004<ref>[http://in.rediff.com/election/2004/may/22man.htm Rediff.com] ''dated'' 22 May 2004, ''accessed'' 25 October 200 </ref>
| 23 May 2004
| 6 November 2005<ref name="BBC News">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/441450stm BBC News] ''dated'' 7 November 2005, ''accessed'' 25 October 200 </ref>
| 6 November 2005
|{{Ayd|22 may 2004|6 november 2005}}
| {{ayd|2004|5|23|2005|11|6}}
| rowspan="5"| [[Indian National Congress]]<br /><small>([[United Progressive Alliance]])</small>
| rowspan="5"| [[Indian National Congress]]
|width="4px" bgcolor="{{Indian National Congress/meta/color}}" rowspan=5|
| rowspan="3"| [[First Manmohan Singh ministry|Manmohan I]]
| rowspan="5" bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
| rowspan="5"| [[Manmohan Singh]]
| rowspan="5"| [[Manmohan Singh]]
|- align=center
|-
|26
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
| [[File:Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in WEF ,2009 (cropped).jpg|75px]]
| [[File:Manmohan Singh in 2009.jpg|70px]]
| [[Manmohan Singh]]
| '''[[Manmohan Singh]]'''<br>{{small|(1932{{ndash}}2024)<br>Rajya Sabha MP for [[Assam]]}}<br>(Prime Minister)
| 6 November 2005
| 6 November 2005
| 24 October 2006
| 24 October 2006
|{{Ayd|6 november 2005|24 october 2006}}
| {{ayd|2005|11|6|2006|10|24}}
|- align=center
|-
|(21)
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
| [[File:Pranab Mukherjee-World Economic Forum Annual Meeting Davos 2009 crop(2).jpg|75px]]
| [[File:Pranab Mukherjee Portrait (cropped).jpg|70px]]
| [[Pranab Mukherjee]]
| '''[[Pranab Mukherjee]]'''<br>{{small|(1935{{ndash}}2020)<br>MP for [[Jangipur Lok Sabha constituency|Jangipur]]}}
| 24 October 2006<ref name="The Hindu">[https://web.archive.org/web/20061109013446/http://www.hindu.com/2006/10/25/stories/2006102507670100.htm The Hindu] ''dated'' 25 October 2006, ''accessed'' 25 October 2006. </ref>
| 24 October 2006
| 22 May 2009
| 22 May 2009
|{{Ayd|24 october 2006|22 may 2009}}
| {{ayd|2006|10|24|2009|5|22}}
|- align=center
|-
|27
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
| [[File:India-eam-krishna (cropped).jpg|75px]]
| [[File:India-eam-krishna (cropped).jpg|70px]]
| [[S. M. Krishna]]
| '''[[S. M. Krishna]]'''<br>{{small|(1932{{ndash}}2024)<br>Rajya Sabha MP for [[Karnataka]]}}
| 22 May 2009
| 23 May 2009
| 26 October 2012
| 28 October 2012
|{{Ayd|22 may 2009|26 october 2012}}
| {{ayd|2009|5|23|2012|10|28}}
|- align=center
| rowspan="2"| [[Second Manmohan Singh ministry|Manmohan II]]
|28
|-
| [[File:Salman-kurshid.jpg|75px]]
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
| [[Salman Khurshid]]
| [[File:Salman Khurshid portrait (cropped).jpg|70px]]
| '''[[Salman Khurshid]]'''<br>{{small|(born 1953)<br>MP for [[Farrukhabad Lok Sabha constituency|Farrukhabad]]}}
| 28 October 2012
| 28 October 2012
| 26 May 2014
| 26 May 2014
|{{Ayd|28 october 2012|26 may 2014}}
| {{ayd|2012|10|28|2014|5|26}}
|- align=center
|-
|29
| bgcolor="{{party color|Bharatiya Janata Party}}"|
| [[File:Minister Sushma Swaraj in NYC - 2017 (36466238704) (cropped).jpg|92x92px]]
| [[File:Secretary Tillerson is Greeted by Indian Minister of External Affairs Swaraj (24074726498) (cropped).jpg|70px]]
| [[Sushma Swaraj]]
| '''[[Sushma Swaraj]]'''<br>{{small|(1952{{ndash}}2019)<br>MP for [[Vidisha Lok Sabha constituency|Vidisha]]}}
| 26 May 2014
| 26 May 2014
| 30 May 2019
| 30 May 2019
|{{Ayd|26 may 2014|30 may 2019}}
| {{ayd|2014|5|26|2019|5|30}}
| rowspan="2"| [[Bharatiya Janata Party]]<br /><small>([[National Democratic Alliance (India)|National Democratic Alliance]])</small>
| rowspan="3"| [[Bharatiya Janata Party]]
|width="4px" bgcolor="{{Bharatiya Janata Party/meta/color}}" rowspan=2|
| [[First Modi ministry|Modi I]]
| rowspan="2"| [[Narendra Modi]]
| rowspan="3" bgcolor="{{party color|Bharatiya Janata Party}}"|
|- align=center
| rowspan="3"| [[Narendra Modi]]
|30
|-
|[[File:Minister Jaishankar (48823162971) (cropped).jpg|75px]]
| rowspan="2" bgcolor="{{party color|Bharatiya Janata Party}}"|
|[[Subrahmanyam Jaishankar]]
| rowspan="2"| [[File:The official portrait of External Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.jpg|70px]]
|30 May 2019
| rowspan="2"| '''[[S. Jaishankar]]'''<br>{{small|(born 1955)<br>Rajya Sabha MP for [[Gujarat]]}}
|''Incumbent''
| rowspan="2"| 30 May 2019
|{{Ayd|30 may 2019}}
| rowspan="2"| Incumbent
| rowspan="2"| {{ayd|2019|5|31}}
| [[Second Modi ministry|Modi II]]
|-
| [[Third Modi ministry|Modi III]]
|-
|}
|}


== List of Ministers of State ==
== Ministers of state ==
{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible style=" ;"sortable mw-collapsible"
 
|+Ministers of State of External Affairs
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! [[Minister of state]]
! rowspan="2" colspan="2"| Portrait
! Portrait
! rowspan="2" style="width:18em" |Minister<br>{{small|(Birth-Death)<br>Constituency}}
! colspan=2| Political party
! colspan="3" |Term of office
! colspan="2" | Term
! rowspan="2" style="width:8em" |Political party
! Years
! rowspan="2" style="width:6em" | Ministry
|-align=center
! rowspan="2" colspan="2" |Prime Minister
|[[V. K. Singh]]
|-
|[[File:General Vijay Kumar Singh.jpg|100px]]
! style="width:9em"| From
|Rowspan=5|[[Bharatiya Janata Party]]
! style="width:9em"| To
|Rowspan=5 bgcolor=FF9933|
! style="width:6em"| Period
|26 May 2014
|-
|30 May 2019
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
|{{Age in years and days|2014|05|26|2019|05|30}}
| [[File:Charu Chandra Biswas image.jpg|70px]]
|-align=center
| '''[[Charu Chandra Biswas]]'''<br>{{small|(1888{{ndash}}1960)}}
|[[M. J. Akbar]]
| 13 May 1950
|[[File:M. J. Akbar cropped.JPG|100px]]
| 13 May 1952
|5 July 2016
| {{ayd|13 May 1950|13 May 1952}}
|17 October 2018
| rowspan="8"| [[Indian National Congress]]
|{{Age in years and days|2016|07|5|2018|10|17}}
| [[First Nehru ministry|Nehru I]]
|-align=center
| rowspan="3" bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
|[[V. Muraleedharan]]
| rowspan="3" style="width:7em"| [[Jawaharlal Nehru]]
|[[File:Vellamvelly Muraleedharan and Gustavo Zlauvinen 02 (cropped).jpg|100px]]
|-
|30 May 2019
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
|''Incumbent''
| [[File:Syed Mahmud Lok Sabha photo.jpg|70px]]
|{{Age in years and days|2019|05|30}}
| '''[[Syed Mahmud]]'''<br/>{{small|(1889–1971)<br/>MP for [[Gopalganj Lok Sabha constituency|Gopalganj]]}}
|-align=center
| 7 December 1954
|[[Meenakshi Lekhi]]
| 17 April 1957
| [[File:Smt. Meenakshi Lekhi in July 2021.jpg|100px]]
| {{ayd|7 Dec 1954|17 Apr 1957}}
|7 July 2021
| [[Second Nehru ministry|Nehru II]]
|''Incumbent''
|-
|{{Age in years and days|2021|07|07}}  
| rowspan="4" bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
|- align=center
| rowspan="4"| [[File:Lakshmi N. Menon (1963).jpg|70px]]
|[[Rajkumar Ranjan Singh]]
| rowspan="4"| '''[[Lakshmi N. Menon]]'''<br>{{small|(1899{{ndash}}1994)<br>Rajya Sabha MP for [[Bihar]]}}
| rowspan="4"| 16 April 1962
| rowspan="4"| 24 January 1966
| rowspan="4"| {{ayd|1962|4|16|1966|1|24}}
| [[Fourth Nehru ministry|Nehru IV]]
|-
| [[First Nanda ministry|Nanda I]]
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
| [[Gulzarilal Nanda]]
|-
| [[Shastri ministry|Shastri]]
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
| [[Lal Bahadur Shastri]]
|-
| [[Second Nanda ministry|Nanda II]]
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
| [[Gulzarilal Nanda]]
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
| [[File:Dinesh Singh Lok Sabha portrait.gif|70px]]
| '''[[Dinesh Singh (politician, born 1925)|Dinesh Singh]]'''<br>{{small|(1925{{ndash}}1995)<br>Rajya Sabha MP for [[Uttar Pradesh]]}}
| 24 January 1966
| 13 March 1967
| {{ayd|1966|1|24|1967|3|13}}
| [[First Indira Gandhi ministry|Indira I]]
| rowspan="2" bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
| rowspan="3"| [[Indira Gandhi]]
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
| [[File:Bali Ram Bhagat portrait.gif|70px]]
| '''[[Bali Ram Bhagat]]'''<br>{{small|(1922{{ndash}}2011)<br>MP for [[Arrah Lok Sabha constituency|Arrah]]}}
| 14 November 1967
| 14 February 1969
| {{ayd|1967|11|14|1969|2|14}}
| [[Second Indira Gandhi ministry|Indira II]]
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress (R)}}"|
| [[File:Surendra Pal Singh portrait.jpg|70px]]
| '''[[Surendra Pal Singh (politician)|Surendra Pal Singh]]'''<br>{{small|(1917{{ndash}}2009)<br>MP for [[Bulandshahr Lok Sabha constituency|Bulandshahr]]}}
| 5 February 1973
| 10 October 1974
| {{ayd|1973|2|5|1974|10|10}}
| [[Indian National Congress (R)]]
| [[Third Indira Gandhi ministry|Indira III]]
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress (R)}}"|
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Janata Party}}"|
| [[File:Samarendra Kundu.jpg|70px]]
| '''[[Samarendra Kundu]]'''<br>{{small|(1930{{ndash}}1993)<br>MP for [[Balasore Lok Sabha constituency|Balasore]]}}
| 14 August 1977
| 28 July 1979
| {{ayd|1977|8|14|1979|7|28}}
| [[Janata Party]]
| [[Morarji Desai ministry|Desai]]
| bgcolor="{{party color|Janata Party}}"|
| [[Morarji Desai]]
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress (Urs)}}"|
|
| '''[[Bedabrata Barua]]'''<br>{{small|(born 1928)<br>MP for [[Kaliabor Lok Sabha constituency|Kaliabor]]}}
| 4 August 1979
| 14 January 1980
| {{ayd|1979|8|4|1980|1|14}}
| [[Indian National Congress (Urs)]]
| [[Charan Singh ministry|Charan]]
| bgcolor="{{party color|Janata Party (Secular)}}"|
| [[Charan Singh]]
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
| [[File:A.A.Rahim(inc).jpg|70px]]
| '''[[A. A. Rahim]]'''<br>{{small|(1920{{ndash}}1995)<br>MP for [[Attingal Lok Sabha constituency|Chirayinkil]]}}
| 2 September 1982
| 31 October 1984
| {{ayd|1982|9|2|1984|10|31}}
| rowspan="9"| [[Indian National Congress (I)]]
| rowspan="2"| [[Fourth Indira Gandhi ministry|Indira IV]]
| rowspan="2" bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress (I)}}"|
| rowspan="2"| [[Indira Gandhi]]
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress (I)}}"|
| [[File:Ram Niwas Mirdha (cropped).jpg|70px]]
| '''[[Ram Niwas Mirdha]]'''<br>{{small|(1924{{ndash}}2010)<br>Rajya Sabha MP for [[Rajasthan]]}}
| 2 August 1984
| 31 October 1984
| {{ayd|1984|8|2|1984|10|31}}
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress (I)}}"|
| [[File:A.A.Rahim(inc).jpg|70px]]
| '''[[A. A. Rahim]]'''<br>{{small|(1920{{ndash}}1995)<br>MP for [[Attingal Lok Sabha constituency|Chirayinkil]]}}
| rowspan="2"| 4 November 1984
| rowspan="2"| 31 December 1984
| rowspan="2"| {{ayd|1984|11|4|1984|12|31}}
| rowspan="2"| [[First Rajiv Gandhi ministry|Rajiv I]]
| rowspan="7" bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress (I)}}"|
| rowspan="7"| [[Rajiv Gandhi]]
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress (I)}}"|
| [[File:Ram Niwas Mirdha (cropped).jpg|70px]]
| '''[[Ram Niwas Mirdha]]'''<br>{{small|(1924{{ndash}}2010)<br>Rajya Sabha MP for [[Rajasthan]]}}
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress (I)}}"|
| [[File:Khurshed Alam Khan (cropped).jpg|70px]]
| '''[[Khurshed Alam Khan]]'''<br>{{small|(1919{{ndash}}2013)<br>MP for [[Farrukhabad Lok Sabha constituency|Farrukhabad]]}}
| 31 December 1984
| 25 September 1985
| {{ayd|1984|12|31|1985|9|25}}
| rowspan="5"| [[Second Rajiv Gandhi ministry|Rajiv II]]
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress (I)}}"|
| [[File:Sh. Kocheril Raman Narayanan AI-enhanced portrait.jpg|70px]]
| '''[[K. R. Narayanan]]'''<br>{{small|(1921{{ndash}}2005)<br>MP for [[Ottapalam Lok Sabha constituency|Ottapalam]]}}
| 25 September 1985
| 22 October 1986
| {{ayd|1985|9|25|1986|10|22}}
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress (I)}}"|
| [[File:Eduardo Faleiro (cropped).jpg|70px]]
| '''[[Eduardo Faleiro]]'''<br>{{small|(born 1940)<br>MP for [[South Goa Lok Sabha constituency|Mormugao]]}}
| 12 May 1986
| 14 February 1988
| {{ayd|1986|5|12|1988|2|14}}
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress (I)}}"|
| [[File:K. Natwar Singh 2005.jpg|70px]]
| '''[[Natwar Singh]]'''<br>{{small|(1929–2024)<br>MP for [[Bharatpur Lok Sabha constituency|Bharatpur]]}}
| 22 October 1986
| 2 December 1989
| {{ayd|1986|10|22|1989|12|2}}
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress (I)}}"|
|
| '''Kamla Kant Tiwari'''<br>{{small|MP for [[Buxar Lok Sabha constituency|Buxar]]}}
| 25 June 1988
| 22 April 1989
| {{ayd|1988|6|25|1989|4|22}}
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian People's Front}}"|
| [[File:Hari Kishore Singh (cropped).jpg|70px]]
| '''[[Hari Kishore Singh]]'''<br>{{small|(1934{{ndash}}2013)<br>MP for [[Sheohar Lok Sabha constituency|Sheohar]]}}
| 23 April 1990
| 10 November 1990
| {{ayd|1990|4|23|1990|11|10}}
| [[Indian People's Front]]
| [[V. P. Singh ministry|Vishwanath]]
| bgcolor="{{party color|Janata Dal}}"|
| [[V. P. Singh|Vishwanath Pratap Singh]]
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
| [[File:Eduardo Faleiro (cropped).jpg|70px]]
| '''[[Eduardo Faleiro]]'''<br>{{small|(born 1940)<br>MP for [[South Goa Lok Sabha constituency|Mormugao]]}}
| 21 June 1991
| 18 January 1993
| {{ayd|1991|6|21|1993|1|18}}
| rowspan="3"| [[Indian National Congress]]
| rowspan="3"| [[Rao ministry|Rao]]
| rowspan="3" bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
| rowspan="3"| [[P. V. Narasimha Rao]]
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress (I)}}"|
| [[File:R. L. Bhatia.jpg|70px]]
| '''[[R. L. Bhatia]]'''<br>{{small|(1920{{ndash}}2021)<br>MP for [[Amritsar Lok Sabha constituency|Amritsar]]}}
| 2 July 1992
| 16 May 1993
| {{ayd|1992|7|2|1993|5|16}}
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress (I)}}"|
| [[File:Salman Khurshid portrait (cropped).jpg|70px]]
| '''[[Salman Khurshid]]'''<br>{{small|(born 1953)<br>MP for [[Farrukhabad Lok Sabha constituency|Farrukhabad]]}}
| 18 January 1993
| 16 May 1996
| {{ayd|1993|1|18|1996|5|16}}
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Samajwadi Party}}"|
|
| '''[[Saleem Iqbal Shervani]]'''<br>{{small|(born 1953)<br>MP for [[Badaun Lok Sabha constituency|Badaun]]}}
| rowspan="2"| 9 June 1997
| rowspan="2"| 19 March 1998
| rowspan="2"| {{ayd|1997|4|21|1998|3|19}}
| [[Samajwadi Party]]
| rowspan="2"| [[Gujral ministry|Gujral]]
| rowspan="2" bgcolor="{{party color|Janata Dal}}"|
| rowspan="2"| [[Inder Kumar Gujral]]
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Janata Dal}}"|
|
| '''[[Kamala Sinha]]'''<br>{{small|(1932{{ndash}}2014)<br>Rajya Sabha MP for [[Bihar]]}}
| [[Janata Dal]]
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Bharatiya Janata Party}}"|
| [[File:Vasundhra Raje.jpg|70px]]
| '''[[Vasundhara Raje]]'''<br>{{small|(born 1953)<br>MP for [[Jhalawar Lok Sabha constituency|Jhalawar]]}}
| 20 March 1998
| 13 October 1999
| {{ayd|1998|3|20|1999|10|13}}
| [[Bharatiya Janata Party]]
| [[Second Vajpayee ministry|Vajpayee II]]
| rowspan="6" bgcolor="{{party color|Bharatiya Janata Party}}"|
| rowspan="6"| [[Atal Bihari Vajpayee]]
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|All India Trinamool Congress}}"|
|
|
|7 July 2021
| '''[[Ajit Kumar Panja]]'''<br>{{small|(1936{{ndash}}2008)<br>MP for [[Calcutta North East Lok Sabha constituency|Calcutta North East]]}}
|''Incumbent''
| 13 October 1999
|{{Age in years and days|2021|07|07}}
| 16 March 2001
| {{ayd|1999|10|13|2001|3|16}}
| [[All India Trinamool Congress]]
| rowspan="5"| [[Third Vajpayee ministry|Vajpayee III]]
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Bharatiya Janata Party}}"|
| [[File:Uppalapati Krishnam Raju.jpg|70px]]
| '''[[Krishnam Raju]]'''<br>{{small|(1940{{ndash}}2022)<br>MP for [[Narasapuram Lok Sabha constituency|Narasapuram]]}}
| 30 September 2000
| 22 July 2001
| {{ayd|2000|9|30|2001|7|22}}
| [[Bharatiya Janata Party]]
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Jammu and Kashmir National Conference}}"|
| [[File:Omar Abdullah (portrait).jpg|70px]]
| '''[[Omar Abdullah]]'''<br>{{small|(born 1970)<br>MP for [[Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency|Srinagar]]}}
| 22 July 2001
| 23 December 2002
| {{ayd|2001|7|22|2002|12|23}}
| [[Jammu and Kashmir National Conference]]
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Janata Dal (United)}}"|
| [[File:Dig Vijaysingh.jpg|70px]]
| '''[[Digvijay Singh (Bihar politician)|Digvijay Singh]]'''<br>{{small|(1955{{ndash}}2010)<br>MP for [[Banka Lok Sabha constituency|Banka]]}}
| 1 July 2002
| 22 May 2004
| {{ayd|2002|7|1|2004|5|22}}
| [[Janata Dal (United)]]
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Bharatiya Janata Party}}"|
| [[File:Vinod Khanna at Esha Deol's wedding at ISCKON temple 11 (cropped).jpg|70px]]
| '''[[Vinod Khanna]]'''<br>{{small|(1946{{ndash}}2017)<br>MP for [[Gurdaspur Lok Sabha constituency|Gurdaspur]]}}
| 29 January 2003
| 22 May 2004
| {{ayd|2003|1|29|2004|5|22}}
| [[Bharatiya Janata Party]]
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian Union Muslim League}}"|
| [[File:The portrait of the Minister of State for Railways, Shri E. Ahammed.jpg|70px]]
| '''[[E. Ahamed]]'''<br>{{small|(1938{{ndash}}2017)<br>MP for [[Ponnani Lok Sabha constituency|Ponnani]]}}
| 23 May 2004
| 22 May 2009
| {{ayd|2004|5|23|2009|5|22}}
| [[Indian Union Muslim League]]
| rowspan="3"| [[First Manmohan Singh ministry|Manmohan I]]
| rowspan="6" bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
| rowspan="6"| [[Manmohan Singh]]
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
| [[File:Rao Inderjit Singh taking over as Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Planning in May 2014 (cropped).jpg|70px]]
| '''[[Rao Inderjit Singh]]'''<br>{{small|(born 1951)<br>MP for [[Mahendragarh Lok Sabha constituency|Mahendragarh]]}}
| 23 May 2004
| 29 January 2006
| {{ayd|2004|5|23|2006|1|29}}
| rowspan="4"| [[Indian National Congress]]
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
| [[File:Anand Sharma - World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2012.jpg|70px]]
| '''[[Anand Sharma]]'''<br>{{small|(born 1953)<br>Rajya Sabha MP for [[Himachal Pradesh]]}}
| 29 January 2006
| 22 May 2009
| {{ayd|2006|1|29|2009|5|22}}
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
| [[File:Preneet Kaur.jpg|70px]]
| '''[[Preneet Kaur]]'''<br>{{small|(born 1944)<br>MP for [[Patiala Lok Sabha constituency|Patiala]]}}
| 28 May 2009
| 26 May 2014
| {{ayd|2009|5|28|2014|5|26}}
| rowspan="3"| [[Second Manmohan Singh ministry|Manmohan II]]
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
| [[File:Sasi Tharoor 2021 at Kollam.jpg|70px]]
| '''[[Shashi Tharoor]]'''<br>{{small|(born 1956)<br>MP for [[Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency|Thiruvananthapuram]]}}
| 28 May 2009
| 19 April 2010
| {{ayd|2009|5|28|2010|4|19}}
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian Union Muslim League}}"|
| [[File:The portrait of the Minister of State for Railways, Shri E. Ahammed.jpg|70px]]
| '''[[E. Ahamed]]'''<br>{{small|(1938{{ndash}}2017)<br>MP for [[Malappuram Lok Sabha constituency|Malappuram]]}}
| 19 January 2011
| 26 May 2014
| {{ayd|2011|1|19|2014|5|26}}
| [[Indian Union Muslim League]]
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Bharatiya Janata Party}}"|
| [[File:India's Minister of State for External Affairs Vijay Kumar Singh (15760995677) (cropped).jpg|70px]]
| {{small|General}}<br/>'''[[V. K. Singh]]''' {{small|(Retd.)}}<br>{{post-nominals|country=IND|PVSM|AVSM|YSM|ADC}}<br>{{small|(born 1950)<br>MP for [[Ghaziabad Lok Sabha constituency|Ghaziabad]]}}
| 27 May 2014
| 30 May 2019
| {{ayd|2014|5|27|2019|5|30}}
| rowspan="7"| [[Bharatiya Janata Party]]
| rowspan="2"| [[First Modi ministry|Modi I]]
| rowspan="7" bgcolor="{{party color|Bharatiya Janata Party}}"|
| rowspan="7"| [[Narendra Modi]]
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Bharatiya Janata Party}}"|
| [[File:M. J. Akbar assuming office in 2016 (cropped).jpg|70px]]
| '''[[M. J. Akbar]]'''<br>{{small|(born 1951)<br>Rajya Sabha MP for [[Madhya Pradesh]]}}
| 5 July 2016
| 17 October 2018
| {{ayd|2016|7|5|2018|10|17}}
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Bharatiya Janata Party}}"|
| [[File:Vellamvelly Muraleedharan and Gustavo Zlauvinen 02 (cropped).jpg|70px]]
| '''[[V. Muraleedharan]]'''<br>{{small|(born 1958)<br>Rajya Sabha MP for [[Maharashtra]]}}
| 31 May 2019
| 9 June 2024
| {{ayd|2019|5|31|2024|6|9}}
| rowspan="3"| [[Second Modi ministry|Modi II]]
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Bharatiya Janata Party}}"|
| [[File:Meenakshi Lekhi with PM Modi (cropped).jpg|70px]]
| '''[[Meenakshi Lekhi]]'''<br>{{small|(born 1967)<br>MP for [[New Delhi Lok Sabha constituency|New Delhi]]}}
| 7 July 2021
| 9 June 2024
| {{ayd|2021|7|7|2024|6|9}}
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Bharatiya Janata Party}}"|
| [[File:Rajkumar Ranjan Singh in January 2022.jpg|70px]]
| '''[[Rajkumar Ranjan Singh]]'''<br>{{small|(born 1952)<br>MP for [[Inner Manipur Lok Sabha constituency|Inner Manipur]]}}
| 7 July 2021
| 9 June 2024
| {{ayd|2021|7|7|2024|6|9}}
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Bharatiya Janata Party}}"|
|[[File:Kirtivardhan Singh assuming charge as the Minister of State of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.jpg|70px]]
| '''[[Kirti Vardhan Singh]]'''<br/>{{small|(born 1966)<br/>MP for [[Gonda Lok Sabha constituency|Gonda]]}}
| rowspan="2"| 10 June 2024
| rowspan="2"| Incumbent
| rowspan="2"| {{ayd|10 Jun 2024}}
| rowspan="2"| [[Third Modi ministry|Modi III]]
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Bharatiya Janata Party}}"|
| [[File:Pabitra Margherita in 2024 (cropped).jpg|70px]]
| '''[[Pabitra Margherita]]'''<br/>{{small|(born 1974)<br/>Rajya Sabha MP for [[Assam]]}}
|-
|}
 
==Deputy ministers==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! rowspan="2" | {{Abbr|No.|Number}}
! rowspan="2" colspan="2"| Portrait
! rowspan="2" style="width:18em" |Minister<br>{{small|(Birth-Death)<br>Constituency}}
! colspan="3" |Term of office
! rowspan="2" style="width:8em" |Political party
! rowspan="2" style="width:6em" | Ministry
! rowspan="2" colspan="2"| Prime Minister
|-
! style="width:8em"| From
! style="width:8em"| To
! style="width:6em"| Period
|-
! colspan="11"| Deputy Minister of External Affairs and Commonwealth Relations
|-
! 1
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
| [[File:B. V. Keskar portrait.gif|70px]]
| '''[[B. V. Keskar]]'''<br />{{small|(1903{{ndash}}1984)<br />MCA for [[Madras Presidency|Madras]]}}
| 7 December<br>1948
| 26 January<br>1950
| '''{{ayd|7 Dec 1948|26 Jan 1950}}'''
| [[Indian National Congress]]
| [[First Nehru ministry|Nehru I]]
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
| style="width:9em"| '''[[Jawaharlal Nehru]]'''
|-
! colspan="11"| Deputy Minister of External Affairs
|-
! (1)
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
| [[File:B. V. Keskar portrait.gif|70px]]
| '''[[B. V. Keskar]]'''<br />{{small|(1903{{ndash}}1984)<br />MCA for [[Madras Presidency|Madras]]}}
| 31 January<br>1950
| 13 May<br>1952
| '''{{ayd|31 Jan 1950|13 May 1952}}'''
| [[Indian National Congress]]
| [[First Nehru ministry|Nehru I]]
| rowspan="7" bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
| rowspan="7"| '''[[Jawaharlal Nehru]]'''
|-
! colspan="9"|
|-
! rowspan="2"| 2
| rowspan="2" bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
| rowspan="2"| [[File:Anil Kumar Chanda portrait.gif|70px]]
| rowspan="2"| '''[[Anil Kumar Chanda]]'''<br>{{small|(1906{{ndash}}1976)<br>MP for [[Birbhum Lok Sabha constituency|Birbhum]]}}
| 12 August<br>1952
| 17 April<br>1957
| rowspan="2"| '''{{ayd|12 Aug 1952|1 May 1957}}'''
| rowspan="3"| [[Indian National Congress]]
| [[Second Nehru ministry|Nehru II]]
|-
| 17 April<br>1957
| 1 May<br>1957
| rowspan="2"| [[Third Nehru ministry|Nehru III]]
|-
! 3
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
| [[File:Lakshmi N. Menon (1963).jpg|70px]]
| '''[[Lakshmi N. Menon]]'''<br>{{small|(1899{{ndash}}1994)<br>Rajya Sabha MP for [[Bihar]]}}
| 17 April<br>1957
| 10 April<br>1962
| '''{{ayd|17 Apr 1957|10 Apr 1962}}'''
|-
! colspan="9"|
|-
! rowspan="4"| 4
| rowspan="4" bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
| rowspan="4"| [[File:Dinesh Singh Lok Sabha portrait.gif|70px]]
| rowspan="4"| '''[[Dinesh Singh (politician, born 1925)|Dinesh Singh]]'''<br>{{small|(1925{{ndash}}1995)<br>MP for [[Pratapgarh Lok Sabha constituency|Pratapgarh]]}}
| 8 May<br>1962
| 27 May<br>1964
| rowspan="4"| '''{{ayd|8 May 1962|24 Jan 1966}}'''
| rowspan="4"| [[Indian National Congress]]
| [[Fourth Nehru ministry|Nehru IV]]
|-
| 27 May<br>1964
| 9 June<br>1964
| [[First Nanda ministry|Nanda I]]
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
| '''[[Gulzarilal Nanda]]'''
|-
| 15 June<br>1964
| 11 January<br>1966
| [[Shastri ministry|Shastri]]
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
| '''[[Lal Bahadur Shastri]]'''
|-
| 11 January<br>1966
| 24 January<br>1966
| [[Second Nanda ministry|Nanda II]]
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
| '''[[Gulzarilal Nanda]]'''
|-
! colspan="11"|
|-
! rowspan="3"| 5
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
| rowspan="3"| [[File:Surendra Pal Singh portrait.jpg|70px]]
| rowspan="3"| '''[[Surendra Pal Singh (politician)|Surendra Pal Singh]]'''<br>{{small|(1917{{ndash}}2009)<br>MP for [[Bulandshahr Lok Sabha constituency|Bulandshahr]]}}
| rowspan="2"| 18 March<br>1967
| rowspan="2'| 18 March<br>1971
| rowspan="3"| '''{{ayd|18 Mar 1967|5 Mar 1973}}'''
| [[Indian National Congress]]
| rowspan="2"| [[Second Indira Gandhi ministry|Indira II]]
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress}}"|
| rowspan="5"| '''[[Indira Gandhi]]'''
|-
| rowspan="2" bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress (R)}}"|
| rowspan="4"| [[Indian National Congress (R)]]
| rowspan="4" bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress (R)}}"|
|-
| 18 March<br>1971
| 5 February<br>1973
| rowspan="3"| [[Third Indira Gandhi ministry|Indira III]]
|-
! colspan="7"|
|-
! 6
| bgcolor="{{party color|Indian National Congress (R)}}"|
| [[File:Bipinpal Das portrait.jpg|70px]]
| '''[[Bipinpal Das]]'''<br>{{small|(1923{{ndash}}2005)<br>Rajya Sabha MP for [[Assam]]}}
| 17 October<br>1974
| 24 March<br>1977
| '''{{ayd|17 Oct 1974|24 Mar 1977}}'''
|-
! colspan="11"|
|-
! 7
| bgcolor="{{party color|Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya)}}"|
| [[File:Dig Vijaysingh.jpg|70px]]
| '''[[Digvijay Singh (Bihar politician)|Digvijay Singh]]'''<br>{{small|(1955{{ndash}}2010)<br>Rajya Sabha MP for [[Bihar]]}}
| 28 November<br>1990
| 21 June<br>1991
| '''{{ayd|28 Nov 1990|21 Jun 1991}}'''
| [[Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya)]]
| [[Chandra Shekhar ministry|Chandra Shekhar]]
| bgcolor="{{party color|Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya)}}"|
| '''[[Chandra Shekhar]]'''
|-
|}
 
== Length of Tenure ==
===List by length of tenure===
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
! data-sort-type=number rowspan = "2" |#
! rowspan="2" |Finance Minister
! rowspan="2" colspan=2 |Party
! colspan="2" |Length of term
|-
! Longest continuous term
! Total tenure
|-
! data-sort-value="1" | 1
| [[Jawaharlal Nehru]]
| {{Party name with color|Indian National Congress}}
| 14 years, 122 days
| 14 years, 122 days
|-
! data-sort-value="2" |2
| '''[[S Jaishankar]]'''
| {{Party name with color|Bharatiya Janata Party}}
| '''{{Age in years and days|30 May 2019}}'''
| '''{{Age in years and days|30 May 2019}}'''
|-
! data-sort-value="3" | 3
| [[Swaran Singh]]
| {{Party name with color|Indian National Congress}}
| 4 years, 120 days
| 6 years, 225 days
|-
! data-sort-value="4" | 4
| [[Sushma Swaraj]]
| {{Party name with color|Bharatiya Janata Party}}
| 5 years, 4 days
| 5 years, 4 days
|-
|}
|}


==See also==
==See also==
* [[Foreign Secretary (India)|Indian Foreign Secretary]]
* [[Foreign Secretary (India)|Indian Foreign Secretary]]
* [[S. Jaishankar|S Jaishankar]]


==References==
==References==
Line 406: Line 1,047:


==External links==
==External links==
* [http://meaindia.nic.in/ Official Website of Ministry of External Affairs]
* [https://mea.gov.in/ Official Website of Ministry of External Affairs]
* [https://mealib.nic.in/ MEA Library]
* [https://mealib.nic.in/ MEA Library]


Line 413: Line 1,054:
{{Foreign relations of India}}
{{Foreign relations of India}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:External_Affairs_(India) Minister}}
[[Category:Union ministers of India]]
[[Category:Union ministers of India]]
[[Category:Ministers for External Affairs of India]]
[[Category:Lists of ministers of foreign affairs|India]]
[[Category:Ministers for external affairs of India| ]]
[[Category:Ministry of External Affairs (India)]]
[[Category:Ministry of External Affairs (India)]]
[[Category:Lists of government ministers of India]]
[[Category:Lists of government ministers of India]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:External_Affairs_(India) Minister}}

Latest revision as of 19:55, 6 March 2026


Not to be confused with the Foreign Secretary of India.

Minister of External Affairs of the Republic of India
Videś Mantrī
Error creating thumbnail: File missing
Emblem of India
Flag of India
Incumbent
S. Jaishankar
since 30 May 2019 (2019-05-30)
Ministry of External Affairs
AbbreviationMEA
Member ofUnion Cabinet of India
Cabinet Committee on Security
Reports toPresident of India
Prime Minister of India
Parliament of India
AppointerPresident of India
on the recommendation of the Prime Minister
Term lengthFive years (renewable)
Formation1947 (1947)
First holderJawaharlal Nehru
Unofficial namesForeign Minister
DeputyMinister of State for External Affairs

The Minister of External Affairs (or simply the External Affairs Minister; Hindi: Videsh Mantri) is the head of the Ministry of External Affairs of the Government of India. One of the senior-most offices in the union cabinet, the chief responsibility of the minister of external affairs is to represent the government of India in the international community and advance its interests on the global stage. As such, the minister plays an important role in shaping and directing the country's foreign policy. Typically, the minister is assisted by one or more junior ministers, known as Ministers of State (MoS) for External Affairs.

The role, created when India became independent in August 1947 as Minister of External and Commonwealth Affairs, was held by India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru throughout his 17-year premiership; Nehru remains the longest serving external affairs minister followed by S. Jaishankar, the incumbent minister. It was renamed Minister of External Affairs upon India's becoming of a republic in 1950.

Several other Prime Ministers have since held the additional charge as the Minister of External Affairs, but never has any other cabinet minister held additional charge of the office—although during Nehru's premiership, V. K. Krishna Menon was acknowledged as de facto minister of external affairs beyond his official designation as defence minister. There have been a number of external affairs ministers who went on to become the prime minister like Atal Bihari Vajpayee, P. V. Narasimha Rao and I. K. Gujral. Two former career-diplomats have served as ministers of external affairs, including Natwar Singh (2004–2005) who served as India's ambassador to Poland and as high commissioner to Pakistan, and the current minister S. Jaishankar who retired as the foreign secretary. Two other ministers, M. C. Chagla and I. K. Gujral also served as ambassadors, with Chagla serving as India's ambassador to the United States and high commissioner to the United Kingdom, while Gujral served as ambassador to the Soviet Union.

The current minister of external affairs is S. Jaishankar, who succeeded Sushma Swaraj of the Bharatiya Janata Party on 30 May 2019.

Cabinet Ministers[edit | edit source]

Portrait Minister
(Birth-Death)
Constituency 		Term of office Political party Ministry Prime Minister
From To Period
Minister of External and Commonwealth Affairs
Jawaharlal Nehru
(1889–1964)
MCA for United Provinces
(Prime Minister) 		15 August 1947 26 January 1950 2 years, 164 days Indian National Congress Nehru I Self
Minister of External Affairs
Jawaharlal Nehru
(1889–1964)
MCA for United Provinces (till 1952)
MP for Phulpur (from 1952)
(Prime Minister) 		26 January 1950 27 May 1964[†] 14 years, 122 days Indian National Congress Nehru I Self
Nehru II
Nehru III
Nehru IV
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Gulzarilal Nanda
(1898–1998)
MP for Sabarkantha
(Prime Minister) 		27 May 1964 9 June 1964 13 days Nanda I Self
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Lal Bahadur Shastri
(1904–1966)
MP for Allahabad
(Prime Minister) 		9 June 1964 17 July 1964 38 days Shastri Lal Bahadur Shastri
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Swaran Singh
(1907–1994)
MP for Jullundur 		17 July 1964 11 January 1966 2 years, 120 days
11 January 1966 24 January 1966 Nanda II Gulzarilal Nanda
24 January 1966 14 November 1966 Indira I Indira Gandhi
Error creating thumbnail: File missing M. C. Chagla
(1900–1981)
Rajya Sabha MP for Maharashtra 		14 November 1966 13 March 1967 295 days
13 March 1967 5 September 1967 Indira II
Indira Gandhi
(1917–1984)
MP for Rae Bareli
(Prime Minister) 		6 September 1967 13 February 1969 1 year, 160 days
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Dinesh Singh
(1925–1995)
MP for Pratapgarh 		14 February 1969 27 June 1970 1 year, 133 days Indian National Congress (R)
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Swaran Singh
(1907–1994)
MP for Jullundur 		27 June 1970 18 March 1971 4 years, 105 days
18 March 1971 10 October 1974 Indira III
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Yashwantrao Chavan
(1913–1984)
MP for Satara 		10 October 1974 24 March 1977 2 years, 165 days
Atal Bihari Vajpayee
(1924–2018)
MP for New Delhi 		26 March 1977 28 July 1979 2 years, 124 days Janata Party Desai Morarji Desai
Shyam Nandan Prasad Mishra
(1920–2004)
MP for Begusarai 		28 July 1979 14 January 1980 170 days Janata Party (Secular) Charan Charan Singh
Error creating thumbnail: File missing P. V. Narasimha Rao
(1921–2004)
MP for Hanamkonda 		14 January 1980 19 July 1984 4 years, 187 days Indian National Congress Indira IV Indira Gandhi
Indira Gandhi
(1917–1984)
MP for Medak
(Prime Minister) 		19 July 1984 31 October 1984† 104 days
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Shankarrao Chavan
(1920–2004)
MP for Nanded
(Minister without portfolio assisting the Prime Minister) 		19 July 1984 2 August 1984 14 days
Rajiv Gandhi
(1944–1991)
MP for Amethi
(Prime Minister) 		31 October 1984 31 December 1984 328 days Rajiv I Rajiv Gandhi
31 December 1984 24 September 1985 Rajiv
Bali Ram Bhagat
(1922–2011)
MP for Arrah 		24 September 1985 12 May 1986 230 days
Error creating thumbnail: File missing P. Shiv Shankar
(1929–2017)
Rajya Sabha MP for Gujarat 		12 May 1986 22 October 1986 163 days
Error creating thumbnail: File missing N. D. Tiwari
(1925–2018)
Rajya Sabha MP for Uttar Pradesh 		22 October 1986 25 July 1987 276 days
Rajiv Gandhi
(1944–1991)
MP for Amethi
(Prime Minister) 		25 July 1987 25 June 1988 336 days
Error creating thumbnail: File missing P. V. Narasimha Rao
(1921–2004)
MP for Ramtek 		25 June 1988 2 December 1989 1 year, 160 days
V. P. Singh
(1931–2008)
MP for Fatehpur
(Prime Minister) 		2 December 1989 5 December 1989 3 days Janata Dal Vishwanath V. P. Singh
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Inder Kumar Gujral
(1919–2012)
MP for Jalandhar 		5 December 1989 10 November 1990 340 days
Chandra Shekhar
(1927–2007)
MP for Ballia
(Prime Minister) 		10 November 1990 21 November 1990 11 days Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) Chandra Shekhar Chandra Shekhar
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Vidya Charan Shukla
(1929–2013)
MP for Mahasamund 		21 November 1990 20 February 1991 91 days
Chandra Shekhar
(1927–2007)
MP for Ballia
(Prime Minister) 		20 February 1991 21 June 1991 121 days
Madhavsinh Solanki
(1927–2021)
Rajya Sabha MP for Gujarat 		21 June 1991 31 March 1992 284 days Indian National Congress Rao P. V. Narasimha Rao
Error creating thumbnail: File missing P. V. Narasimha Rao
(1921–2004)
MP for Nandyal
(Prime Minister) 		31 March 1992 18 January 1993 293 days
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Dinesh Singh
(1925–1995)
Rajya Sabha MP for Uttar Pradesh 		18 January 1993 10 February 1995 2 years, 23 days
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Pranab Mukherjee
(1935–2020)
Rajya MP for West Bengal 		10 February 1995 16 May 1996 1 year, 96 days
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Atal Bihari Vajpayee
(1924–2018)
MP for Lucknow
(Prime Minister) 		16 May 1996 21 May 1996 5 days Bharatiya Janata Party Vajpayee I Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Sikander Bakht
(1918–2004)
Rajya Sabha MP for Madhya Pradesh 		21 May 1996 1 June 1996 11 days
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Inder Kumar Gujral
(1919–2012)
Rajya Sabha MP for Bihar
(Prime Minister from 21 April 1997) 		1 June 1996 21 April 1997 1 year, 290 days Janata Dal Deve Gowda H. D. Deve Gowda
21 April 1997 19 March 1998 Gujral Self
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Atal Bihari Vajpayee
(1924–2018)
MP for Lucknow
(Prime Minister) 		19 March 1998 5 December 1998 261 days Bharatiya Janata Party Vajpayee II Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Jaswant Singh
(1938–2020)
Rajya Sabha MP for Rajasthan 		5 December 1998 13 October 1999 3 years, 208 days
13 October 1999 1 July 2002 Vajpayee III
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Yashwant Sinha
(born 1937)
MP for Hazaribagh 		1 July 2002 22 May 2004 1 year, 326 days
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Natwar Singh
(1931–2024)
Rajya Sabha MP for Rajasthan 		23 May 2004 6 November 2005 1 year, 167 days Indian National Congress Manmohan I Manmohan Singh
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Manmohan Singh
(1932–2024)
Rajya Sabha MP for Assam
(Prime Minister) 		6 November 2005 24 October 2006 352 days
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Pranab Mukherjee
(1935–2020)
MP for Jangipur 		24 October 2006 22 May 2009 2 years, 210 days
S. M. Krishna
(1932–2024)
Rajya Sabha MP for Karnataka 		23 May 2009 28 October 2012 3 years, 158 days Manmohan II
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Salman Khurshid
(born 1953)
MP for Farrukhabad 		28 October 2012 26 May 2014 1 year, 210 days
Sushma Swaraj
(1952–2019)
MP for Vidisha 		26 May 2014 30 May 2019 5 years, 4 days Bharatiya Janata Party Modi I Narendra Modi
S. Jaishankar
(born 1955)
Rajya Sabha MP for Gujarat 		30 May 2019 Incumbent 7 years, 74 days Modi II
Modi III

Ministers of state[edit | edit source]

Portrait Minister
(Birth-Death)
Constituency 		Term of office Political party Ministry Prime Minister
From To Period
Charu Chandra Biswas
(1888–1960) 		13 May 1950 13 May 1952 2 years, 0 days Indian National Congress Nehru I Jawaharlal Nehru
Syed Mahmud
(1889–1971)
MP for Gopalganj 		7 December 1954 17 April 1957 2 years, 131 days Nehru II
Lakshmi N. Menon
(1899–1994)
Rajya Sabha MP for Bihar 		16 April 1962 24 January 1966 3 years, 283 days Nehru IV
Nanda I Gulzarilal Nanda
Shastri Lal Bahadur Shastri
Nanda II Gulzarilal Nanda
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Dinesh Singh
(1925–1995)
Rajya Sabha MP for Uttar Pradesh 		24 January 1966 13 March 1967 1 year, 48 days Indira I Indira Gandhi
Bali Ram Bhagat
(1922–2011)
MP for Arrah 		14 November 1967 14 February 1969 1 year, 92 days Indira II
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Surendra Pal Singh
(1917–2009)
MP for Bulandshahr 		5 February 1973 10 October 1974 1 year, 247 days Indian National Congress (R) Indira III
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Samarendra Kundu
(1930–1993)
MP for Balasore 		14 August 1977 28 July 1979 1 year, 348 days Janata Party Desai Morarji Desai
Bedabrata Barua
(born 1928)
MP for Kaliabor 		4 August 1979 14 January 1980 163 days Indian National Congress (Urs) Charan Charan Singh
Error creating thumbnail: File missing A. A. Rahim
(1920–1995)
MP for Chirayinkil 		2 September 1982 31 October 1984 2 years, 59 days Indian National Congress (I) Indira IV Indira Gandhi
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Ram Niwas Mirdha
(1924–2010)
Rajya Sabha MP for Rajasthan 		2 August 1984 31 October 1984 90 days
Error creating thumbnail: File missing A. A. Rahim
(1920–1995)
MP for Chirayinkil 		4 November 1984 31 December 1984 57 days Rajiv I Rajiv Gandhi
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Ram Niwas Mirdha
(1924–2010)
Rajya Sabha MP for Rajasthan
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Khurshed Alam Khan
(1919–2013)
MP for Farrukhabad 		31 December 1984 25 September 1985 268 days Rajiv II
Error creating thumbnail: File missing K. R. Narayanan
(1921–2005)
MP for Ottapalam 		25 September 1985 22 October 1986 1 year, 27 days
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Eduardo Faleiro
(born 1940)
MP for Mormugao 		12 May 1986 14 February 1988 1 year, 278 days
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Natwar Singh
(1929–2024)
MP for Bharatpur 		22 October 1986 2 December 1989 3 years, 41 days
Kamla Kant Tiwari
MP for Buxar 		25 June 1988 22 April 1989 301 days
Hari Kishore Singh
(1934–2013)
MP for Sheohar 		23 April 1990 10 November 1990 201 days Indian People's Front Vishwanath Vishwanath Pratap Singh
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Eduardo Faleiro
(born 1940)
MP for Mormugao 		21 June 1991 18 January 1993 1 year, 211 days Indian National Congress Rao P. V. Narasimha Rao
Error creating thumbnail: File missing R. L. Bhatia
(1920–2021)
MP for Amritsar 		2 July 1992 16 May 1993 318 days
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Salman Khurshid
(born 1953)
MP for Farrukhabad 		18 January 1993 16 May 1996 3 years, 119 days
Saleem Iqbal Shervani
(born 1953)
MP for Badaun 		9 June 1997 19 March 1998 332 days Samajwadi Party Gujral Inder Kumar Gujral
Kamala Sinha
(1932–2014)
Rajya Sabha MP for Bihar 		Janata Dal
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Vasundhara Raje
(born 1953)
MP for Jhalawar 		20 March 1998 13 October 1999 1 year, 207 days Bharatiya Janata Party Vajpayee II Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Ajit Kumar Panja
(1936–2008)
MP for Calcutta North East 		13 October 1999 16 March 2001 1 year, 154 days All India Trinamool Congress Vajpayee III
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Krishnam Raju
(1940–2022)
MP for Narasapuram 		30 September 2000 22 July 2001 295 days Bharatiya Janata Party
Omar Abdullah
(born 1970)
MP for Srinagar 		22 July 2001 23 December 2002 1 year, 154 days Jammu and Kashmir National Conference
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Digvijay Singh
(1955–2010)
MP for Banka 		1 July 2002 22 May 2004 1 year, 326 days Janata Dal (United)
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Vinod Khanna
(1946–2017)
MP for Gurdaspur 		29 January 2003 22 May 2004 1 year, 114 days Bharatiya Janata Party
Error creating thumbnail: File missing E. Ahamed
(1938–2017)
MP for Ponnani 		23 May 2004 22 May 2009 4 years, 364 days Indian Union Muslim League Manmohan I Manmohan Singh
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Rao Inderjit Singh
(born 1951)
MP for Mahendragarh 		23 May 2004 29 January 2006 1 year, 251 days Indian National Congress
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Anand Sharma
(born 1953)
Rajya Sabha MP for Himachal Pradesh 		29 January 2006 22 May 2009 3 years, 113 days
Preneet Kaur
(born 1944)
MP for Patiala 		28 May 2009 26 May 2014 4 years, 363 days Manmohan II
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Shashi Tharoor
(born 1956)
MP for Thiruvananthapuram 		28 May 2009 19 April 2010 326 days
Error creating thumbnail: File missing E. Ahamed
(1938–2017)
MP for Malappuram 		19 January 2011 26 May 2014 3 years, 127 days Indian Union Muslim League
General
V. K. Singh (Retd.)
PVSM AVSM YSM ADC
(born 1950)
MP for Ghaziabad 		27 May 2014 30 May 2019 5 years, 3 days Bharatiya Janata Party Modi I Narendra Modi
Error creating thumbnail: File missing M. J. Akbar
(born 1951)
Rajya Sabha MP for Madhya Pradesh 		5 July 2016 17 October 2018 2 years, 104 days
V. Muraleedharan
(born 1958)
Rajya Sabha MP for Maharashtra 		31 May 2019 9 June 2024 5 years, 9 days Modi II
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Meenakshi Lekhi
(born 1967)
MP for New Delhi 		7 July 2021 9 June 2024 2 years, 338 days
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Rajkumar Ranjan Singh
(born 1952)
MP for Inner Manipur 		7 July 2021 9 June 2024 2 years, 338 days
Kirti Vardhan Singh
(born 1966)
MP for Gonda 		10 June 2024 Incumbent 2 years, 64 days Modi III
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Pabitra Margherita
(born 1974)
Rajya Sabha MP for Assam

Deputy ministers[edit | edit source]

No. Portrait Minister
(Birth-Death)
Constituency 		Term of office Political party Ministry Prime Minister
From To Period
Deputy Minister of External Affairs and Commonwealth Relations
1 Error creating thumbnail: File missing B. V. Keskar
(1903–1984)
MCA for Madras 		7 December
1948 		26 January
1950 		1 year, 50 days Indian National Congress Nehru I Jawaharlal Nehru
Deputy Minister of External Affairs
(1) Error creating thumbnail: File missing B. V. Keskar
(1903–1984)
MCA for Madras 		31 January
1950 		13 May
1952 		2 years, 103 days Indian National Congress Nehru I Jawaharlal Nehru
2 Anil Kumar Chanda
(1906–1976)
MP for Birbhum 		12 August
1952 		17 April
1957 		4 years, 262 days Indian National Congress Nehru II
17 April
1957 		1 May
1957 		Nehru III
3 Lakshmi N. Menon
(1899–1994)
Rajya Sabha MP for Bihar 		17 April
1957 		10 April
1962 		4 years, 358 days
4 Error creating thumbnail: File missing Dinesh Singh
(1925–1995)
MP for Pratapgarh 		8 May
1962 		27 May
1964 		3 years, 261 days Indian National Congress Nehru IV
27 May
1964 		9 June
1964 		Nanda I Gulzarilal Nanda
15 June
1964 		11 January
1966 		Shastri Lal Bahadur Shastri
11 January
1966 		24 January
1966 		Nanda II Gulzarilal Nanda
5 Error creating thumbnail: File missing Surendra Pal Singh
(1917–2009)
MP for Bulandshahr 		18 March
1967 		18 March
1971 		5 years, 352 days Indian National Congress Indira II Indira Gandhi
Indian National Congress (R)
18 March
1971 		5 February
1973 		Indira III
6 Bipinpal Das
(1923–2005)
Rajya Sabha MP for Assam 		17 October
1974 		24 March
1977 		2 years, 158 days
7 Error creating thumbnail: File missing Digvijay Singh
(1955–2010)
Rajya Sabha MP for Bihar 		28 November
1990 		21 June
1991 		205 days Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) Chandra Shekhar Chandra Shekhar

Length of Tenure[edit | edit source]

List by length of tenure[edit | edit source]

# Finance Minister Party Length of term
Longest continuous term Total tenure
1 Jawaharlal Nehru INC 14 years, 122 days 14 years, 122 days
2 S Jaishankar BJP 7 years, 75 days 7 years, 75 days
3 Swaran Singh INC 4 years, 120 days 6 years, 225 days
4 Sushma Swaraj BJP 5 years, 4 days 5 years, 4 days

See also[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]


External links[edit | edit source]

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