Indian Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee was switched to the post of foreign minister on Tuesday, ending a vacancy of nearly a year at the key ministry ahead of some crucial diplomatic events. The long-awaited move was part of a minor expansion and reshuffle of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Congress party-led coalition ministry.
Mukherjee's switch comes weeks before India and Pakistan resume fragile peace talks and a last ditch attempt is made to get a controversial civilian nuclear co-operation deal approved by the US Senate. Besides, Chinese President Hu Jintao is due to visit New Delhi next month during which the Asian giants are expected to push for a solution to a decades-old border dispute and tackle some hurdles in their thriving business links.
"They (US administration) have given us assurances that the deal will be through," Mukherjee told reporters after the reshuffle, referring to the nuclear deal which is expected to seek approval of a "lame duck" Congress next month. A.K. Antony, a former chief minister of the southern state of Kerala, was named to replace Mukherjee as defence minister, a statement from the president's office said.
Mukherjee, 70, a veteran Congress politician and number two in Singh's cabinet, has held the foreign, finance and trade portfolios, among others, in the past.
The foreign minister's post fell vacant last November when Natwar Singh resigned after being named in an independent report into irregularities in the United Nations oil-for-food programme for Iraq. The ruling party suspended Natwar Singh in August after an Indian inquiry - ordered after the UN investigation report - said he had sought favours from Saddam Hussein.