Jaishankar takes charge, MEA welcomes 2 new Ministers of State

National. After the new Cabinet was officially sworn in at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Sunday evening, the ministers have been assigned their respective ministries and most of them have also taken charge. Dr. S. Jaishankar has been appointed as the Union Minister of External Affairs once again. This time he will be assisted by two new Ministers of State for External Affairs (MoS).

71 Members of Parliament joined Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the swearing-in ceremony. Portfolios were assigned to each minister on Monday, the next day. Kirti Vardhan Singh, elected for the fifth consecutive time from Gonda constituency in Uttar Pradesh, has been given the responsibility of Minister of State for External Affairs. An ardent environmental activist, Singh will also take over the role of Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, which reflects his dedication to ecological issues.

Pabitra Margherita, an Assam MP serving in the Rajya Sabha, has also been appointed as Minister of State for External Affairs. Earlier, Margherita has served as spokesperson and political secretary to Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. Along with his responsibilities in the Ministry of External Affairs, he will also serve as Minister of State in the Ministry of Textiles.

In the second term of the Modi government, apart from Dr. S. Jaishankar, three Ministers of State were given responsibility as Cabinet Ministers, including Meenakshi Lekhi, V. Muralidharan and Rajkumar Ranjan Singh.

After taking oath as Union Minister, External Affairs Minister Jaishankar has taken charge. After taking charge, he met the heads of state of neighboring countries, who were present in New Delhi for the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This initial meeting during the second term of the Foreign Minister reflects New Delhi's priority to take relations with neighboring countries to new heights.

After taking charge on the first day of his second term, the Foreign Minister shared some pictures on the social media platform 'X' on Tuesday and uploaded a picture and wrote, "Took charge as Foreign Minister. Thank you Prime Minister Narendra Modi for entrusting me with this responsibility."