EAM S Jaishankar formally joins BJP

New Delhi, June 24: External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar, a former bureaucrat, Monday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in presence of party working president J P Nadda and others at the Paraliament House.

Jaishankar, who was appointed as EAM by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his second tenure, took the charge of office on June 2. He succeeded Sushama Swaraj, a veteran BJP leader who successfully handled the External Affairs Ministry during Modi.1 regime.

He, however, is the first former foreign secretary to occupy the post of external affairs minister by virtue of which he will be in the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) that is chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Jaishankar's appointment as External Affairs Minister itself is evidence of Modi's faith in the former diplomat's expertise in the complex arena of external affairs.