Sujatha Singh (born July 1954) is an Indian

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

of the IFS cadre who served as India's Foreign Secretary from August 2013 to January 2015. Previously she had been the Indian Ambassador to Germany (2012–2013).

Family and education

Born in July 1954, Sujatha Singh is the daughter of the former Intelligence Bureau chief and, later,

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

T. V. Rajeswar T. V. Rajeswar (28 August 1926 in Salem, Tamil Nadu – 14 January 2018 in New Delhi) was an Indian Police Service officer, an Intelligence Bureau chief and a Governor of Sikkim, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh. He was awarded the Padma Vibhusha ...

. She is an alumna of the

Lady Shri Ram College Lady Shri Ram College for Women (LSR) is a constituent women's college, affiliated with the University of Delhi, and has a legacy in women's education. History Established in 1956 in New Delhi by the late Lala Shri Ram in memory of his wife ...

, New Delhi and the

Delhi School of Economics Delhi School of Economics (DSE), popularly referred to as "D School", is a Higher Educational Institution within the University of Delhi. The Delhi School of Economics is situated in University of Delhi's North Campus in Maurice Nagar. Establ ...

from where she graduated in economics. She is married to Sanjay Singh, who is a retired Indian Foreign Service officer.

Career

Singh is an Indian Foreign Service officer of the 1976 batch. She is a German speaker and served in various positions at the Indian embassies at

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...

, Paris, and

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

. She was India's

Consul general A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

during 2000–04. She has also served as India's High Commissioner to Australia (2007–2012). In Delhi she has served on the Ministry's Economic Co-ordination Unit and dealt with

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

, West Europe and the EU as director,

undersecretary Undersecretary (or under secretary) is a title for a person who works for and has a lower rank than a secretary (person in charge). It is used in the executive branch of government, with different meanings in different political systems, and is al ...

and joint secretary. Her tenure as High Commissioner to Australia was marked by turbulence in Indo-Australian ties following racial attacks on Indian students and later by the

Australian Labour Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms the ...

's decision to make an exception for India regarding the sale of uranium. She has a reputation for toughness, volunteering as a liaison officer on a rain-hit Kailash Manasarovar Yatra in 1983, taking a tough stance with the Australian authorities on dealing with the racial attacks against Indians there, and, as joint secretary handling Western Europe, she advocated India's stance of not accepting prescriptive aid from small European Union nations.

Foreign Secretary

In 2013, Sujatha Singh succeeded Ranjan Mathai as Foreign Secretary of India. She was appointed over

S. Jaishankar Subrahmanyam Jaishankar (born 9 January 1955) is an Indian diplomat and politician serving as the Minister of External Affairs of the Government of India since 30 May 2019. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party and a Member of Parliame ...

, and assumed office on 1 August 2013.The fact that she had never served as ambassador to any of India's neighbouring nations was seen as a challenge, and it was said that she had been favored for the post for being a woman, and the UPA government under chairperson

Sonia Gandhi Sonia Gandhi ('' née'' Maino; born 9 December 1946) is an Indian politician. She is the longest serving president of the Indian National Congress, a social democratic political party, which has governed India for most of its post-independ ...

pushed for her promotion owing to closeness of his father with the Gandhi family. Singh was the third female officer to head the Indian diplomatic corps after

Chokila Iyer Chokila Iyer is an Indian diplomat and civil servant who served as India's first female foreign secretary from March 2001 to June 2002. She is an Indian Foreign Service officer of the 1964 batch and served as the Ambassador of India to the Repu ...

and Nirupama Rao. In the normal course, she should have retired from the

Indian Foreign Service The Indian Foreign Service (IFS) is the diplomatic service and a central civil service of the Government of India under the Ministry of External Affairs. The Foreign Secretary is the head of the service. Vinay Mohan Kwatra is the 34th and the ...

in July 2014 upon her 60th birthday, but appointments to the position of foreign secretary are usually made for a tenure of two years, and such was the case with her. She thus received an extension in service of thirteen months, and her two-year term as Foreign Secretary should have ended in August 2015. However, a government order on 28 January 2015, issued by the newly elected government of

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament from ...

, terminated her extended service and appointed another person to the post of Foreign Secretary. This was

, who as Indian Ambassador to the United States had played a key role during Indian Prime Minister Modi's visit to the US, and in US President Obama's visit to India.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Sujatha 1954 births Living people Lady Shri Ram College alumni Delhi School of Economics alumni Ambassadors of India to Germany Indian Foreign Secretaries Indian Foreign Service officers Indian women ambassadors