Inside MEA

Newly appointed Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao is gradually settling in,taking lengthy briefings from joint secretaries handling desks she has not dealt with before. For the two crucial joint secretary appointments that are to be announced soon,she is believed to have chosen Y K Sinha for the JS handling Pakistan,Afghanistan and Iran. Sinha,who has served as political counsellor in the Indian High Commission,Islamabad,is the son of former Jamp;K and Assam Governor Lt Gen retd S K Sinha. The frontrunner for the other key post of JS East Asia,who would be in-charge of China and Japan,is Sujan Chinoy,currently posted at the National Security Council Secretariat. His inclusion to the delegation at the recently concluded border talks with China is being seen as a tacit confirmation,though the final word is still not out.