New Delhi: The Congress Wednesday appointed senior leader Salman Khurshid, 72, as the chairperson of the party’s Foreign Affairs Department, days after Anand Sharma stepped down from the post citing the need to entrust “younger leaders” with the charge.
Khurshid, who served as the minister of external affairs in the UPA-II government, will be assisted by Brijendra Singh and Arathi Krishna as vice-chairpersons of the department which had previously Manish Tewari, Deepender Singh Hooda as members among others.
Brijendra Singh, a former BJP MP and the son of Birender Singh who served as a minister in the first two Modi governments, had joined the Congress in 2024 ahead of the 2024 general elections. He contested the Haryana assembly election but lost by a margin of 32 votes.
Arathi Krishna, who is an MLC in Karnataka, is considered close to the state’s Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar.
Incidentally, Khurshid was among the Congress leaders to be made members of multi-party delegations on Operation Sindoor by the Centre. His name did not figure in the list of four names that the Congress had proposed.
What makes his appointment interesting is that Khurshid had irked the Congress leadership by defending the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu & Kashmir during his visit to Indonesia as part of one of the delegations.
He had told a gathering of academia and think tanks in Indonesia that Article 370 of the Constitution had given rise to an impression that J&K was “separate” from the rest of India.
“But Article 370 was abrogated. It was abrogated, and it was finally put to an end, because so much time has passed. Subsequently, there was an election with 65 percent participation in the election. There’s an elected government in Jammu and Kashmir today. And therefore, for people who want to undo everything that has happened, the prosperity that has come to Kashmir is something which is very, very unfortunate, and it will give a setback to anybody,” he had said.
While the Congress has never demanded the restoration of Article 370, the party also never hailed the move as one that benefited Jammu and Kashmir. That is why the BJP was quick to seize on Khurshid’s remarks in an attempt to corner the Congress.
Later, Khurshid, in a post on X, had hit out at his critics, including within the party.
“When on a mission against terrorism, to carry India’s message to the world, it is distressing that people at home are calculating political allegiances… is it so difficult to be patriotic?” he had posted.
Sharma, on the other hand, was the Congress leadership’s only choice that had made the cut for being part of the delegations formed in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor to argue India’s case in various world capitals.
While in his resignation letter, Sharma wrote that the department needs to be reconstituted to bring in younger leaders of potential and promise, sources told ThePrint that he was upset over being sidelined and not consulted on foreign policy matters by the Congress leadership.
Over the last few years, he has found himself at odds with the party leadership, including Rahul Gandhi, over many issues.
Earlier this month, after Rahul, currently the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, remarked that he agreed with US President Donald Trump’s assessment that the Indian economy was “dead”, Sharma took a divergent view.
“President Trump has triggered an upheaval and caused unprecedented disruption in the world order by his utterances and actions. His comments on India and its Economy are belittling and unacceptable. India has withstood pressures & threats in the past, & emerged stronger. President Trump is mistaken that India does not have options. As the fourth largest economy India has resilience & inherent strength to engage with the world on principles of equality & mutual respect…” Sharma wrote on X on 4 August.
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