New Delhi:External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar while speaking at an event in Pune on Saturday said that he wasn’t sure if any other Prime Minister would’ve appointed him as a minister.
Speaking at an event for the release of the Marathi translation of his book, “The India Way: Strategies for an Uncertain World," in Pune, he said that becoming foreign secretary had been the limit of his ambition. Jaishankar served as Foreign Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs prior to being Minister.
“For me to become foreign secretary, was frankly the limit of my ambition, I had never even dreamt of becoming a minister," Jaishankar said.
“I am not sure any Prime Minister, other than Narendra Modi would have made me minister," he added.
“I really also sometimes ask myself that if he was not the Prime Minister, would I have had the courage to enter politics, I don’t know," he said.Speaking about his experience working with former Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj, he said, “We had a very-very good minister Sushma ji and we got along personally very well. I would say our combination was very good, a minister-secretary combination.
But, I did learn one thing, there is a difference in responsibilities, there is a difference in the overall sense of being a secretary and a minister."
“Secretary still has a minister above them who is answerable to parliament, answerable in public, who still gives protection and comfort, you know there is that umbrella," Jaishankar noted.