Indian Foreign Minister Resigns

Anticipated cabinet reshuffle expected

NEW DELHI: India's veteran Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna resigned on Friday, senior government officials said, clearing the way for a long-awaited cabinet reshuffle.

"The foreign minister has resigned," an official in Krishna's ministry told AFP on condition of anonymity. He did not give a reason for the resignation.

Krishna has cancelled a scheduled visit to Laos, where he was to accompany Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, another senior official in the prime minister's office told AFP.

The 80-year-old Krishna, a member of the main ruling Congress party, was appointed foreign minister in 2009 after holding a host of positions in the state government of southern Karnataka since the 1960s.