The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has undertaken a major overhaul of departments and reporting structure that will effectively empower seven different Additional Secretaries and re-organise their tasks along themes like culture, trade and development, and consolidated geographical divisions for better coordination. The restructuring was done in consultation with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, who as a former foreign secretary (2015-2018) managed the Ministry himself, and authored the plans, sources said. In the new structure, additional secretaries will be empowered to look at more long-term solutions rather than only “firefighting”, and will travel and give political direction to their assigned portfolios. In other changes, 1999 batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer Rudra Gaurav Shresth was appointed Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on Friday. Earlier, he served as India’s High Commissioner in Mozambique and in the policy planning and research division in the MEA.

Source: The North Africa Journal January 31, 2020 21:56 UTC