NEW DELHI, Oct 26: Indian Foreign Ministr S.M. Krishna resigned on Friday ahead of a cabinet reshuffle scheduled on Sunday.

Press Trust of India said the 80-year-old leader from Karnataka had sent in his resignation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the afternoon. With the assembly elections due before next May in Karnataka the former chief minister may be given a party assignment in the state.

The resignation is also an indication that the Union Council of Ministers is set for a revamp on Sunday with the induction of new faces considered close to Congress scion Rahul Gandhi and elevation of some young ministers of state, PTI said.

Whether Mr Gandhi himself would join the government was still a matter of speculation though sources told PTI that some time back he was inclined towards such a possibility.

Mr Krishna was made the External Affairs Minister immediately after the elections in 2009 when UPA came back to power for the second time.

His name has been part of speculation whenever there were rumours of a cabinet reshuffle.