Vijay Keshav Gokhale could bring stability at South Block

Gokhale is credited with handling delicate negotiations with China during the 73-day Doklam military standoff

There was a time until a decade back when having served in Islamabad and Washington were considered prerequisites to get the top job at South Block.

But Shyam Saran, Shiv Shankar Menon and Nirupama Rao – foreign secretaries of India between 2004 to 2011 – changed that. All three were China experts.

The pattern continues with the government on Monday announcing that Vijay Keshav Gokhale will succeed S Jaishankar as India’s next foreign secretary. Jaishankar and Gokhale are China experts. Jaishankar retires on January 28, after three years at the helm. He had taken over in controversial circumstances in January