# Minister of State for External Affairs (India)

The Minister of State for External Affairs (or simply, the external affairs minister of state) is the deputy head of the Ministry of External Affairs of the Government of India and the deputy to their senior counterpart in the ministry, the Minister of External Affairs. The chief responsibility of the minister of state for external affairs is to assist their senior colleague in the affairs of the ministry, or perform duties as directed to them by the prime minister or the minister of external affairs to represent the government in the international community and advance its interests on the global stage. The current ministers of state are Kirti Vardhan Singh and Pabitra Margherita, both of whom are in office since 10 June 2024 in the third cabinet of prime minister Narendra Modi.
The position was first created in 1957 and held by Syed Mahmud under prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Until 1991, the minister of state was assisted by a deputy minister. On most occasions, there has been two ministers of state and sometimes, there has been three ministers of state in the ministry. Following the 2021 cabinet reshuffle, there were three ministers of state in the ministry, namely V. Muraleedharan, Meenakshi Lekhi, and Rajkumar Ranjan Singh.
Four ministers of state for external affairs, viz. Dinesh Singh, Bali Ram Bhagat, K. Natwar Singh, and Salman Khurshid later went on to head the ministry as the ministers of external affairs. K. Natwar Singh served as India's ambassador to Poland, and Pakistan, K. R. Narayan served as ambassador to the United States and China, and later went on become the first dalit president in 1997, while Kamala Sinha served as ambassador to Suriname and high commissioner to Barbados after her term as minister of state.

## Ministers of State

| Portrait | Portrait | Minister (Birth-Death) | Term of office | Term of office | Term of office | Political party | Ministry |
| Portrait | Portrait | Minister (Birth-Death) | From | To | Period | Political party | Ministry |
| | | Syed Mahmud (1889–1971) MP for Gopalganj | 7 December 1954 | 17 April 1957 | 2 years, 131 days | Indian National Congress | Nehru II |
| | | Lakshmi N. Menon (1899–1994) Rajya Sabha MP for Bihar | 16 April 1962 | 24 January 1966 | 3 years, 283 days | Indian National Congress | Nehru IV |
| | | Lakshmi N. Menon (1899–1994) Rajya Sabha MP for Bihar | 16 April 1962 | 24 January 1966 | 3 years, 283 days | Indian National Congress | Nanda I |
| | | Lakshmi N. Menon (1899–1994) Rajya Sabha MP for Bihar | 16 April 1962 | 24 January 1966 | 3 years, 283 days | Indian National Congress | Shastri |
| | | Lakshmi N. Menon (1899–1994) Rajya Sabha MP for Bihar | 16 April 1962 | 24 January 1966 | 3 years, 283 days | Indian National Congress | Nanda II |
| | | Dinesh Singh (1925–1995) Rajya Sabha MP for Uttar Pradesh | 24 January 1966 | 13 March 1967 | 1 year, 48 days | Indian National Congress | Indira I |
| | | Bali Ram Bhagat (1922–2011) MP for Arrah | 14 November 1967 | 14 February 1969 | 1 year, 92 days | Indian National Congress | Indira II |
| | | Surendra Pal Singh (1917–2009) MP for Bulandshahr | 5 February 1973 | 10 October 1974 | 1 year, 247 days | Indian National Congress (R) | Indira III |
| | | Samarendra Kundu (1930–?) MP for Balasore | 14 August 1977 | 28 July 1979 | 1 year, 348 days | Janata Party | Desai |
| | | Bedabrata Barua (born 1928) MP for Kaliabor | 4 August 1979 | 14 January 1980 | 163 days | Indian National Congress (Urs) | Charan |
| | | A. A. Rahim (1920–1995) MP for Chirayinkil | 2 September 1982 | 31 October 1984 | 2 years, 59 days | Indian National Congress (I) | Indira IV |
| | | Ram Niwas Mirdha (1924–2010) Rajya Sabha MP for Rajasthan | 2 August 1984 | 31 October 1984 | 90 days | Indian National Congress (I) | Indira IV |
| | | A. A. Rahim (1920–1995) MP for Chirayinkil | 4 November 1984 | 31 December 1984 | 57 days | Indian National Congress (I) | Rajiv I |
| | | Ram Niwas Mirdha (1924–2010) Rajya Sabha MP for Rajasthan | 4 November 1984 | 31 December 1984 | 57 days | Indian National Congress (I) | Rajiv I |
| | | Khurshed Alam Khan (1919–2013) MP for Farrukhabad | 31 December 1984 | 25 September 1985 | 268 days | Indian National Congress (I) | Rajiv II |
| | | K. R. Narayanan (1921–2005) MP for Ottapalam | 25 September 1985 | 22 October 1986 | 1 year, 27 days | Indian National Congress (I) | Rajiv II |
| | | Eduardo Faleiro (born 1940) MP for Mormugao | 12 May 1986 | 14 February 1988 | 1 year, 278 days | Indian National Congress (I) | Rajiv II |
| | | K. Natwar Singh (1929–2024) MP for Bharatpur | 22 October 1986 | 2 December 1989 | 3 years, 41 days | Indian National Congress (I) | Rajiv II |
| | | Kamla Kant Tiwari MP for Buxar | 25 June 1988 | 22 April 1989 | 301 days | Indian National Congress (I) | Rajiv II |
| | | Hari Kishore Singh (1934–2013) MP for Sheohar | 23 April 1990 | 10 November 1990 | 201 days | Indian People's Front | Vishwanath |
| | | Eduardo Faleiro (born 1940) MP for Mormugao | 21 June 1991 | 18 January 1993 | 1 year, 211 days | Indian National Congress (I) | Rao |
| | | R. L. Bhatia (1920–2021) MP for Amritsar | 2 July 1992 | 16 May 1993 | 318 days | Indian National Congress (I) | Rao |
| | | Salman Khurshid (born 1953) MP for Farrukhabad | 18 January 1993 | 16 May 1996 | 3 years, 119 days | Indian National Congress (I) | Rao |
| | | Saleem Iqbal Shervani (born 1953) MP for Badaun | 9 June 1997 | 19 March 1998 | 332 days | Samajwadi Party (United Front) | Gujral |
| | | Kamala Sinha (1932–2014) Rajya Sabha MP for Bihar | 9 June 1997 | 19 March 1998 | 332 days | Janata Dal (United Front) | Gujral |
| | | Vasundhara Raje (born 1953) MP for Jhalawar | 20 March 1998 | 13 October 1999 | 1 year, 207 days | Bharatiya Janata Party (NDA) | Vajpayee II |
| | | Ajit Kumar Panja (1936–2008) MP for Calcutta North East | 13 October 1999 | 16 March 2001 | 1 year, 154 days | All India Trinamool Congress (NDA) | Vajpayee III |
| | | Krishnam Raju (1940–2022) MP for Narasapuram | 30 September 2000 | 22 July 2001 | 295 days | Bharatiya Janata Party (NDA) | Vajpayee III |
| | | Omar Abdullah (born 1970) MP for Srinagar | 22 July 2001 | 23 December 2002 | 1 year, 154 days | Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (NDA) | Vajpayee III |
| | | Digvijay Singh (1955–2010) MP for Banka | 1 July 2002 | 22 May 2004 | 1 year, 326 days | Janata Dal (United) (NDA) | Vajpayee III |
| | | Vinod Khanna (1946–2017) MP for Gurdaspur | 29 January 2003 | 22 May 2004 | 1 year, 114 days | Bharatiya Janata Party (NDA) | Vajpayee III |
| | | E. Ahamed (1938–2017) MP for Ponnani | 23 May 2004 | 22 May 2009 | 4 years, 364 days | Indian Union Muslim League (UPA) | Manmohan I |
| | | Rao Inderjit Singh (born 1951) MP for Mahendragarh | 22 May 2004 | 29 January 2006 | 1 year, 252 days | Indian National Congress (UPA) | Manmohan I |
| | | Anand Sharma (born 1953) Rajya Sabha MP for Himachal Pradesh | 29 January 2006 | 22 May 2009 | 3 years, 113 days | Indian National Congress (UPA) | Manmohan I |
| | | Preneet Kaur (born 1944) MP for Patiala | 28 May 2009 | 26 May 2014 | 4 years, 363 days | Indian National Congress (UPA) | Manmohan II |
| | | Shashi Tharoor (born 1956) MP for Thiruvananthapuram | 28 May 2009 | 19 April 2010 | 326 days | Indian National Congress (UPA) | Manmohan II |
| | | E. Ahamed (1938–2017) MP for Malappuram | 19 January 2011 | 26 May 2014 | 3 years, 127 days | Indian Union Muslim League (UPA) | Manmohan II |
| | | General V. K. Singh (Retd.) PVSM AVSM YSM ADC (born 1950) MP for Ghaziabad | 26 May 2014 | 30 May 2019 | 5 years, 4 days | Bharatiya Janata Party (NDA) | Modi I |
| | | M. J. Akbar (born 1951) Rajya Sabha MP for Madhya Pradesh | 5 July 2016 | 17 October 2018 | 2 years, 104 days | Bharatiya Janata Party (NDA) | Modi I |
| | | V. Muraleedharan (born 1958) Rajya Sabha MP for Maharashtra | 31 May 2019 | 9 June 2024 | 5 years, 9 days | Bharatiya Janata Party (NDA) | Modi II |
| | | Meenakshi Lekhi (born 1967) MP for New Delhi | 7 July 2021 | 9 June 2024 | 2 years, 338 days | Bharatiya Janata Party (NDA) | Modi II |
| | | Rajkumar Ranjan Singh (born 1952) MP for Inner Manipur | 7 July 2021 | 9 June 2024 | 2 years, 338 days | Bharatiya Janata Party (NDA) | Modi II |
| | | Kirti Vardhan Singh (born 1966) MP for Gonda | 10 June 2024 | Incumbent | 248 days | Bharatiya Janata Party (NDA) | Modi III |
| | | Pabitra Margherita (born 1974) Rajya Sabha MP for Assam | 10 June 2024 | Incumbent | 248 days | Bharatiya Janata Party (NDA) | Modi III |