Amid a continuing guessing game over who would be the next external affairs minister, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Saturday that the vacancy would be filled soon.
"Yes, soon we will have an external affairs minister," Dr Singh said, when asked when a successor to Natwar Singh would be appointed. "You won't have to wait for too long."
Dr Singh was talking to journalists who accompanied him on a six-day tour of the UK and Finland.
The prime minister had given similar replies to journalists' queries on the issue at least thrice earlier during the past month.
The vacancy arose last October when Natwar Singh was forced to resign after his name appeared in the Volcker report on Iraq's oil-for-food scam.
Asked about his comments on completing half of his term, Dr Singh said he is 'very satisfied' at what his government has been able to do. "But there are miles to go before we sleep," he said.
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