Description :
Overviewtext
In September 1946, on the eve
of India�s independence, the Government of India decided to create a service
called the Indian Foreign Service for India�s diplomatic, consular
and commercial representation overseas.text
The precursor to Indian
Foreign Service can be traced back to September 1783 when Foreign Department
was established by the British Raj to conduct business with foreign European
powers. In 1947, there was a near seamless transformation of the Foreign
department of the British India government into what then became the new
Ministry of External Affairs and in 1948 the first batch recruited under the
combined Civil service examination system of the Union Public Service
Commission joined the service. This system of entry has remained the staple
mode of intake into the IFS to this day.text
Backgroundtext
The origin of the Indian
Foreign Service can be traced back to the British rule when the Foreign
Department was created to conduct business with the �Foreign European
Powers�. In fact it was on September 13, 1783, when 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 administration in conducting its �secret and political
business�. Subsequently known as the �Indian Foreign Department�, it went
ahead with the expansion of diplomatic representation, wherever necessary,
to protect British interests.text
In 1843, Governor-General
Ellenborough carried out administrative reforms under which the Secretariat
of the Government was organized under four departments � Foreign, Home,
Finance and Military. Each was headed by a Secretary level officer. The
foreign department Secretary was entrusted with the �conduct of all
correspondence belonging to the external and internal diplomatic relations
of the government�.text
From the very beginning, a
distinction was maintained between the �foreign� and �political� functions
of the Foreign Department; relations with all �Asiatic powers� (including
native princely states of India during the British Raj) were treated as
�political� and with all European powers as �foreign�.text
Although the Government of
India Act, 1935 sought 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 Foreign
department. Consequently, the External Affairs Department was set up
separately under the direct charge of the Governor-General.text
The idea of establishing a
separate diplomatic service to handle the external activities of the
Government of India originated from a note dated September 30, 1944,
recorded by Lt-Gen T. J. Hutton, Secretary, Planning and Development
Department of the Government. 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. Mr Caroe pointed out that as India
emerged to a position of autonomy and national consciousness, it was
imperative to build up a system of representation abroad that would be in
complete harmony with the objectives of the future government.text
In September 1946, on the eve
of India�s independence, the Government of India decided to create a service
called the Indian Foreign Service for India�s diplomatic, consular and
commercial representation overseas.text
In 1947, there was a near
seamless transformation of the Foreign and Political department of the
British India government into what then became the new Ministry of External
Affairs and Commonwealth Relations and in 1948 the first batch recruited
under the combined Civil service examination system of the Union Public
Service Commission joined the service. This system of entry has remained the
staple mode of intake into the IFS to this day.text
Selectiontext
The officials of the IFS are
selected by the Union Public Service Commission through a three-stage
combined selection process called the Civil Services Examination, known for
being extremely challenging, that recruits officers for 20 other Group A
services and five Group B services. The first stage, the Civil Services
Prelims is composed of two objective exams: one of General studies and one
of a subject of one's choice amongst a given list of subjects. The
candidates can choose to be examined in about forty fields, from Civil
Engineering and Medicine to Chinese Literature and Accountancy. This is
purely an eliminatory stage and plays no part in the final rankings. About
5000-6000 of the applicants are selected for the next stage called the Civil
Services Mains. The second stage is more exhaustive. It has nine papers of
which two are only qualifying in nature. One has to choose two optional
subjects of one's choice as compared to one in the Preliminary stage. There
are two papers of General Studies, Optional 1 and Optional 2 each of 300
marks and one Essay paper of 200 marks. The exam is for a total of 2000
marks. Around 1200-1400 aspirants clear Mains and sit for the third stage
i.e the Civil Services Interview which is for 300 marks. Every candidate is
asked to choose their preference of services before the interview. Most
choose IAS as their first choice but a few opt for Indian Foreign Service.
The entire selection process lasts fifteen to twenty months. Repeated
attempts are allowed (maximum of 4 times). About 300-400 are finally
selected each year out of the nearly 400,000 appearing. But only a rank in
the top 50 guarantees an IAS or IFS selection. This translates into an
acceptance rate of 0.01%. It is due to this reason that IAS / IFS officers
are highly respected in Indian society.text
Trainingtext
On selection to the Indian
Foreign Service through the combined Civil Services examination, the new
entrants undergo a multi-faceted and comprehensive training programme
intended to give them a thorough grounding in diplomatic knowledge,
diplomatic qualities and diplomatic skills. The probationers commence their
training, together with their colleagues from the other All India Services,
at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussourie.
Thereafter the probationers join the Foreign Service Institute in New Delhi
and undergo focused training in the various disciplines that a career
diplomat needs to familiarise himself with. The Foreign Service Institute
course involves lectures, attachments with various wings of the Government
as well as familiarisation tours both within the country and abroad. The aim
of this course is to inculcate in the diplomatic recruit a strong sense of
history, knowledge of diplomacy and international relations and a grasp of
general economic and political principles. The entire training programme is
for a period of 36 monthstext
At the conclusion of the
training programme the officer is assigned his/her compulsory foreign
language (CFL). After a brief period of desk attachment in the Ministry of
External Affairs the officer is posted to an Indian Mission abroad in a
country where his CFL is the native language and enrolled in a language
course. The officer is expected to develop proficiency in his CFL and pass
the requisite examination before he is confirmed in service.text
Careertext
A Foreign Service Officer
begins his career abroad as a Third Secretary and is promoted to Second
Secretary as soon as he is confirmed in service. Subsequent promotions are
to the levels of First Secretary, Counsellor, Minister and Ambassador/High
Commissioner/Permanent Representative. Officers can also be posted to Indian
Consulates abroad where the hierarchy (going upwards) is Vice-Consul, Consul
and Consul General.text
The hierarchy at the Ministry
of External Affairs includes 6 stages: Under Secretary, Deputy Secretary,
Director, Joint Secretary, Additional Secretary and Secretary.text
Functionstext
As a career diplomat, the
Foreign Service Officer is required to project India�s 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 media liaison as well as a whole host of multilateral
issues.text
The functions of an Indian
diplomat may be summarized as:text
1. Representing India in its
Embassies, High Commissions, Consulates, and Permanent Missions to
multilateral organisations like UN;text
2. Protecting India�s
national interests in the country of his/her posting;text
3. Promoting friendly
relations with the receiving state as also its people, including NRI / PIOs;text
4. Reporting accurately on
developments in the country of posting which are likely to influence the
formulation of India�s policies;text
5.Negotiating agreements on
various issues with the authorities of the receiving state; andtext
6.Extending consular
facilities to foreigners and Indian nationals abroad.text
7.At home, 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. Strengthtext
Strengthtext
In recent years, the intake
into the Indian Foreign Service has averaged between 8-15 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 hometext |
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AKHAND PRATAP SINGH
