Congress appointed Salman Khurshid as chairperson of the party’s Foreign Affairs Department on Wednesday, days after senior leader Anand Sharma resigned, citing the need to entrust ‘younger leaders’ with the charge.
Sharma, the former Union Minister, was born on 5 January 1953 and is 72 years old. Khurhsid, also a former Union Minister, was born on 1 January 1953 and is also 72. Hence, Khurshid is technically four days younger than Sharma.
Khurshid, who served as the minister of external affairs previous Congress-led UPA government, will be assisted by Brijendra Singh and Arathi Krishna as vice-chairpersons of the department. The panel Manish Tewari, Deepender Singh Hooda, among others, previously.
Brijendra Singh is a former BJP MP and the son of Birender Singh, who served as a minister in the first two Narendra Modi governments. He joined the Congress in 2024. Arathi Krishna is considered close to Karnataka’s Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar.
Khurshid’s appointment assumes significance as it comes months after he apparently irked the Congress leadership by defending the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir during his visit to Indonesia as part of one of Narendra Modi’s government’s delegations on Operation Sindoor.
The four-day age difference between Sharma and Khurshid ignited debate on social media. Akash Banerjee, known as ‘The Deskhbakht’, a social and political satire platform, was among the first to pick up on the age aspect.
To bring in younger leaders of potential: Sharma
In his resignation letter on 10 August, Sharma wrote that the department needs to be reconstituted to attract younger leaders with potential and promise.
The former Union minister led the department for around a decade, as the National Committee of the Department of Foreign Affairs was last constituted in 2018.
“As I have conveyed earlier, both to CP and Chairperson CPP, in my considered view, the committee needs to be reconstituted to bring in younger leaders of potential and promise. That will ensure continuity in its functioning,” the veteran Congress leader said.
Sharma, a member of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the party’s highest decision-making body, has been the Congress’s leading face on international affairs for almost four decades.
He, however, continues to be a member of the Congress party.
The committee needs to be reconstituted to bring in younger leaders of potential and promise.
