NEW DELHI: When External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj met US Secretary of State John Kerry in August, she joked they were the “long and short” of diplomacy, referring to their respective height. However, Kerry responded saying they were the “strong and tough” of diplomacy, an acknowledgement of her tough negotiating skills.
Though the 64-year-old minister was admitted, after suffering kidney failure on November 7, to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) where she is undergoing daily dialysis, Sushma hasn’t abandoned her hands-on approach on the workings of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). Officials told The Sunday Standard that files are being sent to the doughty minister’s residence at 8 Safdarjung Lane for approval and notations.
She reads all of them in the evening after returning home from AIIMS and notes down her instructions. Doctors have asked her to stay home to avoid the risk of infection. Sushma has also been monitoring her Twitter feed and comes to the rescue of people in distress. A day after she informed her followers about her condition, she instructed MEA officials to help a Pakistani woman who was seeking an Indian visa for her child’s medical treatment.
People who work with her call her a “workaholic” who pays personal attention to every aspect of the MEA. “She has been working very hard and would sit through daily marathon meetings concerning preparations for the Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas. “Other ministers in her place would have just made speeches and left,” sources said. They also label her as undefeatable: “She has been taking her health problems in good spirit and her honest decision to inform people about it also reflects well on her.”