NEW DELHI, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Indian government has given Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar, the country's top diplomat, a one-year extention, five days before his two-year tenure was to end.

The high-profile Appointments Committee of the Indian Cabinet of Ministers granted Jaishankar, considered Prime Minister Narendra Modi's unofficial foreign policy advisor, the one-year extension late Monday evening.

"The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the proposal for extension in service of Dr S. Jaishankar, Foreign Secretary, for a further period of one year, with effect from January 29, 2017, to January 28, 2018," an order issued by India's Department of Personnel and Training said.

Jaishankar, a 1977-batch career diplomat, who was appointed foreign secretary on January 29, 2015, is likely to be replaced by India's current ambassador to China, Vijay Gokhale, highly placed sources said Tuesday.

Sources said the government retained Jaishankar, a workaholic, to use his experience to deal with the new Donald Trump administration in the United States as he has already been to Washington and met key members of the Trump transition team prior to the U.S. presidential inauguration on January 20.

A rejig in the Indian External Affairs Ministry is also on the cards in the coming month, with the Indian government likely to appoint Foreign Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup as the next High Commissioner to Canada, a post currently lying vacant since October last year.