Bharat SainiLast Updated on September 26, 2018 by Bharat Saini
Indian Foreign Service – 2017 batch held its valedictory function on Thursday May 31, 2018, where External Affairs Minister of India Smt Sushma Swaraj was the Chief Guest. President Shri Ram Nath Kovind addressing the officer-trainees, when they called on him on Wednesday June 6, 2018 at Rashtrapati Bhavan, said that they are joining the Indian Foreign Service at an exciting time. India is expanding its global footprint and securing its interests in every part of the world. India is taking the lead on critical issues affecting global peace, security and progress, be it fighting terrorism or enhancing efforts to combat climate change. President was confident that the officer-trainees would make the best of the opportunity to meet aspirations that place new responsibilities on the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) as their job is clearly laid out:
- IFS Officers have to maintain robust relations with all our friends and partners to fashion a secure and prosperous environment and meet our developmental aspirations.
- Have to engage, contest and reconstruct global governance structures that adequately reflect and accommodate our interests.
- Diplomacy has become an essential component of domestic action in today’s hyper-connected world.
- There is an international connect to every aspect of our country’s growth and development, be it Clean Energy, Digital India, Skill India, Make in India, or building High-Speed Rail Networks.
- As such economic diplomacy is a priority for us.
Indian Foreign Service (IFS) was created in September 1946, on the eve of India’s independence, for country’s diplomatic, consular and commercial representation overseas, 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. 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.
IFS’s origin can be traced back to the British rule when the Foreign Department was created to conduct business with the Foreign European Powers on September 13, 1783 on a resolution of Board of Directors of East India Company at Fort William, Calcutta (now Kolkata), to help relieve the pressure on the Warren Hastings administration in conducting its secret and political business. It was subsequently known as the Indian Foreign Department that went ahead with the expansion of diplomatic representation, wherever necessary, to protect British interests. The Government of India Act, 1935 sought to delineate more clearly functions of the Foreign and Political wings of the Foreign Department, which was then completely bifurcated to consequently set up separately the External Affairs Department under the direct charge of the Governor-General.
Indian Foreign Service aspirants, on selection through the combined Civil Services examination, commence their training as probationers, 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 a strong sense of history, knowledge of diplomacy and international relations and a grasp of general economic and political principles. They undergo a multi-faceted and comprehensive training programme intended to give them a thorough grounding in diplomatic knowledge, diplomatic qualities and diplomatic skills. Then the officer is assigned his/her compulsory foreign language (CFL) and is expected to develop proficiency in his CFL and pass the requisite examination before he is confirmed in service, After a brief exposure 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.
