New Delhi, February 19
In a sudden development, Shyam Saran, Prime Minister’s special envoy for Indo-US nuclear issues and climate change, has resigned. A brief statement from the PMO this evening said Saran has been permitted to demit office with effect from Friday, March 14.
The resignation came in the midst of speculation that Saran was unhappy over the recent appointment of Shiv Shankar Menon as the National Security Adviser (NSA). Menon was some three years junior to Saran in the Indian Foreign Service (IFS). Both retired as foreign secretaries.
Saran, who played a critical role in navigating the crucial Indo-US nuclear deal, was also said to be in the running for NSA along with Menon. However, Menon landed himself the job in the rank of a Minister of State, thanks to backing by an influential section of bureaucracy in the PMO.
Another factor that helped Menon was the fact that he took upon himself the entire blame for the Sharm-el-Sheikh fiasco over the India-Pakistan joint statement, for which the UPA government came under sharp attack both inside and outside Parliament.
Saran was the trusted lieutenant of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on climate change in the run-up to the UN Summit for Climate Change in Copenhagen in December last year.
Reports had appeared in the media recently that with climate change issues taking centrestage in the international arena, the PM was keen on re-designating Saran as MoS to bring him at par with Menon and vigorously pursue the country’s climate diplomacy.
Saran, a 1970 batch IFS officer, was the foreign secretary from July 2004 to September 2006 when Menon succeeded him to the post, superseding nearly a dozen of his seniors. Menon retired as the foreign secretary in July last year before being appointed the NSA towards January-end.
Saran had served as India’s Ambassador to Nepal, Indonesia and Myanmar and High Commissioner to Mauritius.
Soon after the news about his resignation became public, Saran became incommunicado. However, a news agency quoted him as saying that his resignation was nothing new since he had informed the PMO earlier that March 14 would be his last working day.
