page_title: Pranab Mukherjee
section_title: Minister of External Affairs
hierarchical_section_title: Pranab Mukherjee / Government offices / Minister of External Affairs
caption_attribution_description: English: Secretary Condoleezza Rice and Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee, sign the US-India Civilian Nuclear Cooperation Agreement.
context_page_description: Pranab Mukherjee is an Indian politician who served as the 13th President of India from 2012 until 2017. In a political career spanning five decades, Mukherjee has been a senior leader in the Indian National Congress and has occupied several ministerial portfolios in the Government of India. Prior to his election as President, Mukherjee was Union Finance Minister from 2009 to 2012. He was awarded India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna in 2019 by the President of India, Ram Nath Kovind.
  Mukherjee got his break in politics in 1969 when the then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi helped him get elected to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of Parliament of India, on a Congress ticket. Following a meteoric rise, he became one of Gandhi's most trusted lieutenants and a minister in her cabinet in 1973. During the controversial Internal Emergency of 1975–77, he was accused of committing gross excesses. Mukherjee's service in a number of ministerial capacities culminated in his first stint as Finance Minister of India in 1982–84. He was also the Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha from 1980 to 1985.
  Mukherjee was sidelined from the Congress during the premiership of Rajiv Gandhi.
context_section_description: Mukherjee was appointed the External Affairs Minister of India in 1995. Under his leadership, India was made "Full Dialogue Partner" of ASEAN as part of the Look East foreign policy initiated by Narasimha Rao. Mukherjee left the position in 1996.
  Mukherjee's second term began in 2006. He oversaw the successful signing of the U.S.-India Civil Nuclear Agreement with the US government and then with the Nuclear Suppliers Group, allowing India to participate in civilian nuclear trade in spite of not having signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Mukherjee played a crucial role in mobilising world opinion against Pakistan after the 2008 Mumbai attacks. He left the position a year later to take over the Finance Ministry of India.
  When asked what legacy he wanted to leave behind as Foreign Minister of India, Mukherjee replied, "As the [man] who prepared Indian diplomacy to address the challenges of a more globalised, interdependent and uncertain world."
caption: External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee with Secretary Condoleezza Rice after signing the India–United States Civil Nuclear Agreement
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