Three ministers with PhDs in Modi's cabinet

Former Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar, BJP's UP unit President Mahendra Nath Pandey and former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokriyal Nishank are the most educated Ministers in Narendra Modi's cabinet.

A graduate from the prestigious St. Stephen's college in Delhi, Jaishankar has an MA in Political Science and an MPhil and PhD in International Relations from the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) where he specialised in nuclear diplomacy.

With over three decades of diplomatic experience, he is the longest serving Indian ambassador to China and played a pivotal role in reinforcing economic, trade and cultural relations between the two countries.

Pandey, who led the charge of the Bharatiya Janata Party's Uttar Pradesh unit, also has a PhD in Hindi from the Banaras Hindu University (BHU). He also has a masters in Journalism.

Nishank, who won from Haridwar and also secured a cabinet berth, also has a PhD and was educated at the Garhwal University in Uttarakhand. He was Chief Minister of Uttarakhand from 2009 to 2011.

He is a popular figure in literary circles, having written several books in Hindi.

--IANS

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