Jaishankar assumed the post a day after US President Barack Obama's visit to India. During the visit, Obama expressed hope that the United States could become India's "best partner."
Jaishankar made a large contribution to signing the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal in 2008, according to The Times of India newspaper. The deal envisaged India's separating civil and military nuclear facilities and putting its civil nuclear facilities under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) supervision. In exchange, the United States agreed on full cooperation with India on civil atomic energy, despite New Delhi not being a party to the nuclear weapons Non-Proliferation Agreement.
Before assuming the post of India's Ambassador to the United States in late 2014, Jaishankar served as ambassador to China and Czech Republic.
On Wednesday, Indian Foreign Secretary Sujata Singh resigned from her post. In general practice, foreign secretaries in India serve a two-year term, but Singh resigned eight months early.
