New Delhi: External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar has congratulated Yvette Cooper on her appointment as the new UK Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, and said that he is looking forward to working together to continue the strong momentum of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two countries.
Taking to his official X account on Friday, EAM Jaishankar said: “Congratulations to @YvetteCooperMP on your appointment as UK’s Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs. Look forward to working together to continue the strong momentum of India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.”
Earlier, taking to her official X account, Yvette Cooper said: “It is a huge honour to serve as UK Foreign Secretary. From Russian aggression in Europe to the horrendous famine and conflict in Gaza – when UK diplomacy has never been more important. I look forward to representing and promoting British interests around the world.”
Labour Party veteran Yvette Cooper replaced David Lammy on Friday as the UK Foreign Secretary as Prime Minister Keir Starmer hastily reorganises his top team.
Cooper, 56, has been appointed Britain’s Foreign Minister, succeeding Lammy in Starmer’s reshuffled Cabinet.
Born in Inverness and raised in Hampshire, Cooper studied philosophy, politics and economics (PPE) at Oxford before winning a Kennedy Scholarship to Harvard in 1991.
She worked on Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign in Arkansas and later joined the office of Labour leader John Smith.
Cooper had been serving as Home Secretary, and was moved as part of a major reshuffle brought forward after Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner’s exit from the government after an ethics probe into her financial affairs.
The reshuffle means an unexpected change of roles in Starmer’s government after a turbulent first year in office.
Lammy, who had served as the UK’s top diplomat since Labour Party won the election last year, will now become Justice Secretary — and also step into the post of Deputy Prime Minister vacated by Rayner.
While Cooper has never before served in an international brief, she is one of the most experienced members of the Cabinet, first serving as a Minister under former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.
She went on to become Chief Secretary to the Treasury and Work and Pensions Secretary under Gordon Brown, before acting as Shadow Home Secretary in opposition.
In recent months she has negotiated bilateral agreements with France and Germany in a bid to combat illegal migration.
Her move away from the Home Office comes as Starmer tries to reinvigorate the effort to reduce the number of migrants arriving in small boats, one of his top priorities as Prime Minister.
Shabana Mahmood, the outgoing Justice Secretary and leading light on the right of the party, has now become the UK Home Secretary.
Cooper’s political career is marked by a series of firsts.
In 2001, she became the first Minister to take maternity leave, and in 2008, the first woman to serve as Chief Secretary to the Treasury.
She is also one half of the first married couple to serve together in the Cabinet, BBC reported.
(IANS)
