PM extends wait for new external affairs minister

NEW DELHI: The country will have to wait a while longer to get an external affairs minister. On Friday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh promised that the new appointee will assume office “in the next couple of days”.

Reports over the past six weeks have suggested that Singh, who is currently doubling up as external affairs minister, would name a successor to K Natwar Singh “soon”. Natwar Singh had to relinquish his post in the wake of the Volcker report on the Iraqi oil-for-food scandal.

Hosting an iftaar party at his Race Course Road residence, Singh said that while he had agreed in principle to visit Pakistan, much would also depend on Islamabad’s sincerity.

Speaking to reporters on the lawns of his residence, the PM ruled out any large-scale changes in the Cabinet. “At best it might entail moving one or two people,” he said. He refused to commit himself on whether he intended inducting people from outside the Cabinet.

The Prime Minister chose to deflect issues such as Mohammed Afzal’s hanging. “The legal process is underway and eventually the President will take a call on it,” he said referring to demands to grant Afzal clemency.