Indian Foreign Service

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Indian Foreign Service (Hindi:

Indian Foreign Service

) is the administrative

Service Overview

diplomatic[2] civil

service under

Group A[3] and Group B[4] of the

Central Civil Services of the
executive branch of the

Formed

October 9, 1946

Headquarters

South Block, New Delhi

Country
Training
Ground

India
Foreign Service Institute,
New Delhi

Field of
Operation

Government of India. It is one of the

two premier Civil Services (other
being IAS), as appointment to IFS
renders a person ineligible to
reappear in Civil Services
Examination.[5] It is a Central Civil
service as Foreign policy is the
subject matter and prerogative of
Union Government.[6] The
Ambassador, High Commissioner,
Consul General, Permanent

Controlling
Authority

Ministry of External
Affairs

Legal
personality

Governmental:
Government Services

General Nature Diplomacy & Foreign

policy
Economic diplomacy
Trade Relations
Defence Diplomacy
Cultural diplomacy
Consular Services
Public diplomacy
Intergovernmental
organization
Preceding
Service

Indian Civil Service

Cadre Size

1750 posts (2013)[1]

(Group A - 750; Group B -

Representative of India to the

250)[1]

United Nations and Foreign

Secretary are some of the offices
held by the members of this
service.[2]

Service Chief
Foreign
Secretary

Subrahmanyam
Jaishankar (Incumbent)

Head of the All India Civil Services

Current Cabinet Pradeep Kumar Sinha,
Secretary
IAS

The service is entrusted to conduct diplomacy and manage

foreign relations of India.[2] It is the body of career diplomats
serving in more than 180 Indian Diplomatic Missions and
International Organisations around the world. In addition, they
serve at the headquarters of the Ministry of External affairs in
Delhi and the Prime Minister's Office.[7] They also head the
Regional Passport Offices throughout the country and hold
positions in the President's Secretariat and several ministries on
deputation. Foreign Secretary of India is the administrative head
of the Indian Foreign Service.
IFS was created by the Government of India in October 1946
through a Cabinet note[8] but its roots can be traced back to the
British Raj when the Foreign Department was created to conduct
business with the "Foreign European Powers".[9] IFS Day is
celebrated on October 9 every year since 2011 to commemorate
the day the Indian Cabinet created the IFS.[8]
Officers of the IFS are recruited by the Government of India on
the recommendation of the Union Public Service Commission.
Fresh recruits to the IFS are trained at the Foreign Service
Institute (FSI) after a brief foundation course at the Lal Bahadur
Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie.[10]

Contents
1 History
2 Selection
3 Training

4
5
6
7
8

Functions
Career and rank structure
Notable IFS Officers
References
External links

History
On 13 September 1783, the board of
directors of the East India Company
passed a resolution at Fort William,
Calcutta (now Kolkata), to create a
department, which could help "relieve the
pressure" on the Warren Hastings

South Block The HQ of Ministry

of External Affairs, Prime
Minister's Office and Defence
Ministry in New Delhi

administration in conducting its

"secret and political business."[2]
Although established by the
Company, the Indian Foreign
Department conducted business
with foreign European powers.[2]
From the very beginning, a
distinction was maintained between
the foreign and political functions of

Negotiating exercises like this are routine

and vital part of Indian diplomats' job
profile. Here, President Obama and Prime
Minister Modi are with their diplomats in
an expanded bilateral meeting at
Hyderabad House, New Delhi.

the Foreign Department; relations

with all "Asiatic powers" (including native princely states) were
treated as political, while relations with European powers were
treated as foreign.[11]

In 1843, the Governor-General of India, Edward Law, 1st Earl of

Ellenborough carried out administrative reforms, organizing the
Secretariat of the Government into four departments: Foreign,
Home, Finance, and Military. Each was headed by a secretarylevel officer. The Foreign Department Secretary was entrusted
with the "conduct of all correspondence belonging to the external
and internal diplomatic relations of the government."[2]
The Government of India Act 1935 attempted to delineate more
clearly functions of the foreign and political wings of the Foreign
Department, it was soon realized that it was administratively
imperative to completely bifurcate the department.
Consequently, the External Affairs Department was set up
separately under the direct charge of the Governor-General.
The idea of establishing a separate diplomatic service to handle
the external activities of the Government of India originated
from a note dated 30 September 1944, recorded by LieutenantGeneral T. J. Hutton, the Secretary of the Planning and
Development Department.[2] When this note was referred to the
Department of External Affairs for comments, Olaf Caroe, the
Foreign Secretary, recorded his comments in an exhaustive note
detailing the scope, composition and functions of the proposed
service. Caroe pointed out that as India emerged as autonomous,
it was imperative to build up a system of representation abroad
that would be in complete harmony with the objectives of the
future government.[2]

On 9 October 1946,[12] on the eve of Indian independence, the

Indian government established the Indian Foreign Service for
India's diplomatic, consular and commercial representation
overseas. With independence, there was a near-complete
transition of the Foreign and Political Department into what then
became the new Ministry of External Affairs and Commonwealth
Relations.

Selection
In 1948, the first group of Indian Foreign
Service officers recruited under the
combined Civil Services Examination
administered by the Union Public Service
Commission joined the service.[5] This
exam is still used to select new foreign
service officers.
The Civil Services Examination is used for

An Indian Diplomatic Passport

and an Official Passport. As
opposed to deep blue passport
issued to ordinary Indian
citizens the diplomatic passport
is Maroon Coloured with
Golden 'Diplomatic Passport'
engraved on it and Hindi
equivalent

recruitment for the Indian Foreign

Service, IAS, and IPS, among others. It has three stages - a
preliminary exam, a main exam, and an interview - and is known
for being extremely challenging.
The entire selection process lasts for about 12 months. About 800
to 900 candidates are finally selected each year out of the nearly
700,000-800,000 applicants, but only a rank among toppers
guarantees an IFS selection an acceptance rate of 0.02 percent.

In recent years, the intake into the Indian Foreign Service has
averaged between 25-30 persons annually. The present cadre
strength of the service stands at approximately 600 officers
manning around 162 Indian missions and posts abroad and the
various posts in the Ministry at home.

Training
On acceptance to the Foreign Service, new entrants undergo
significant training. The entrants undergo a probationary period
(and are referred to as Officer Trainees). Training begins at the
Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in
Mussoorie, where members of many elite Indian civil services
are trained.[2]
After completing a 15-week training at the Lal Bahadur Shastri
National Academy of Administration, the probationers join the
Foreign Service Institute in New Delhi for a more intensive
training in a host of subjects important to diplomacy, including
international relations theory, trade, India's Foreign Policy,
History, International Law, diplomatic practice, hospitality,
protocol and administration. They also go on attachments with
different government bodies and defence establishments and
undertake tours both in India and abroad. The entire training
programme lasts for a period of 36 months.[2]

Upon the completion of the training programme at the Institute,

the officer is assigned a compulsory foreign language (CFL). After
a brief period of desk attachment in the Ministry of External
Affairs, at the rank of Assistant Secretary, the officer is posted to
an Indian diplomatic mission abroad where her CFL is the native
language. There the officer undergoes language training and is
expected to develop proficiency in the CFL and pass an
examination before being allowed to continue in the service.[2]

Functions
As a career diplomat, the Foreign Service
Officer is required to project Indias
interests, both at home and abroad on a
wide variety of issues. These include
bilateral political and economic
cooperation, trade and investment
promotion, cultural interaction, press and

Then Indian Ambassador to the

United States, Nirupama Rao, in
a meeting with then U.S.
Secretary of State, Hillary
Clinton, in Washington, D.C.,
2012

media liaison as well as a whole host of

multilateral issues.[2]
The functions of an Indian diplomat
may be summarized as:[2]
Representing India in his/her Embassies,

Indian High Commission in

Canberra

High Commissions, Consulates, and

Permanent Missions to multilateral organizations like UN;

Protecting Indias national interests in the country of his/her

posting;
Promoting friendly relations with the receiving state as also its
people, including NRI/PIOs;
Reporting accurately on developments in the country of posting
which are likely to influence the formulation of Indias policies;
Negotiating agreements on various issues with the authorities of
the receiving state; and
Extending consular facilities to foreigners and Indian nationals
abroad.
At home[2]
Ministry of External Affairs is responsible for all aspects of
external relations. Territorial divisions deal with bilateral
political and economic work while functional divisions look after
policy planning, multilateral organizations, regional groupings,
legal matters, disarmament, protocol, consular, Indian Diaspora,
press and publicity, administration and other aspects.

Career and rank structure

At an embassy: in ascending order of rank
Third Secretary (entry level)
Second Secretary (promotion upon being confirmed in
service)
First Secretary

Counsellor
Minister
Deputy Chief of Mission/Deputy High
Commissioner/Deputy Permanent
Representative
Ambassador/High
Commissioner/Permanent
Representative
At the Ministry of External Affairs: in
ascending order of rank
Assistant Secretary/Under Secretary
Deputy Secretary
Director
The hierarchy in
Joint Secretary
foreign service
Additional Secretary
Secretary
Foreign Secretary of India (India's Top Diplomat,
Administrative Head of the Indian Foreign Service &
Foreign Service Board)

Notable IFS Officers

C. B. Muthamma
Brajesh Mishra
K. Natwar Singh
K. R. Narayanan
Meira Kumar
Mohammad Hamid Ansari
Arundhati Ghose
Jyotindra Nath Dixit
Abhay K
Vikas Swarup
Shyam Saran

Shyam Saran
Shivshankar Menon
Nirupama Rao
A. P. Venkateswaran
Maharaja Krishna Rasgotra
Navtej Sarna
Pavan Varma
Mani Shankar Aiyar
Ajai Malhotra

References

1. "The Indian Foreign Service: Worthy of an Emerging Power?".

Retrieved May 3, 2014.
2. http://www.mea.gov.in/indian-foreign-service.htm
3. Complete Civil Service Schedule of the Civil Services Group A of
India (http://www.persmin.nic.in/DOPT/EmployeesCorner/Acts_Rule