India fires foreign secretary Sujatha Singh

Current Indian Ambassador to the US S Jaishankar will replace Singh as the new foreign secretary

A day after US President Barack Obama concluded his three-day visit to India, the Indian External Affairs Ministry appointed S Jaishankar, India's Ambassador to the US, as its new foreign secretary, Press Trust of India reported.

Jaishankar will replace Sujatha Singh whose tenure was curtailed with immediate effect. Her two-year tenure was due to end in August 2015.

The surprise announcement was made after a meeting of the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet chaired by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Jaishankar has previously served as India's ambassador to China and was key in brokering the nuclear deal with the US which was operationalised during Obama's visit to New Delhi.