Inaugural holder Jawaharlal Nehru | Formation 2 September 1946 | |
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Appointer President on the advice of the Prime Minister | ||
The Minister of External Affairs (or simply foreign minister) 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 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.
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 prime minister.
The current Minister of External Affairs is Sushma Swaraj of the Bharatiya Janata Party, who took over from Salman Khurshid of the Indian National Congress on 26 May 2014.