The service, consisting of civil servants is entrusted with handling the foreign relations of India and providing consular services, and to mark India's presence in international organizations.[3] It is the body of career diplomats serving in more than 160 Indian diplomatic missions and international organizations around the world. In addition, they serve at the President's Secretariat, the Prime Minister's Office and at the headquarters of MEA in New Delhi.[4] They also head Regional Passport Offices throughout the country and hold positions in several ministries on deputation.
South Block The HQ of Ministry of External Affairs, Prime Minister's Office and Defence Ministry in New Delhi
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 administration in conducting its "secret and political business."[3] Although established by the Company, the Indian Foreign Department conducted business with foreign European powers.[3] 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) were treated as political, while relations with European powers were treated as foreign.[5]
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 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."[3]
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 Lieutenant-General T. J. Hutton, the Secretary of the Planning and Development Department.[3] 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.[3]
On 9 October 1946, 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.
Indian Foreign Service Day is celebrated on 9 October every year since 2011 to honor the establishment of the Indian Foreign Service, the idea of which was proposed by diplomat Abhay K.[6][7]
Selection
Diplomatic Passport (left) and Official Passport (right). As opposed to ordinary deep blue passports, diplomatic passport is maroon-coloured with "Diplomatic Passport" engraved on it. Officials representing India other than IFS officers are usually given white-coloured Official Passports.
In 1948, the first group of Indian Foreign Service officers were recruited based on the Civil Services Examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission[8] This exam is still used to select new foreign service officers.[9] Previous to 1948, some were appointed directly by the Prime Minister and included former native rulers of India who had integrated their provinces into India.
On acceptance into the Foreign Service, new entrants undergo rigorous training, considered one of the most challenging and longest among Government of India services, typically lasting over one year. During the probationary period, these entrants are referred to as Officer Trainees. Training begins at the LBSNAA in Mussoorie, where members of other elite Indian civil services undergo a three-month Foundation Course, usually commencing in August each year.[3]
In the middle phase of the program, participants are nominated for a State Attachment with a group of 5–7 officers in any state of India, for a duration of one week, to receive hands-on training in administrative functions. Additionally, participants are nominated for a Mission Attachment abroad, for one week, in an Indian Mission, to gain foundational exposure to the functioning of an embassy.
Upon completion of the training program, officers are assigned a compulsory foreign language (CFL) based on their rank in the UPSC CSE exam. Priority is given to UN languages, including Russian, French, Chinese, Spanish, and Arabic, as well as other languages such as German, Japanese, Hebrew, Persian, among others detailed below. UN languages, along with German and Japanese, are available every year, while other languages may be allocated depending on vacancies or typically after 2–3 years. There, they undergo language training and are expected to achieve proficiency, culminating in an examination conducted by the Ministry of Defence.[11]
Successful completion of the language examination confirms the officer in service and leads to promotion to the rank of Second Secretary at the respective Indian embassy in the CFL country. Subsequent promotions and postings are generally based on performance rather than CFL and may include important diplomatic assignments in locations such as in the P-5 countries which are United States, Russia, China, United Kingdom and France, then comes the neighborhood countries of India (except China, which is already mentioned in P-5) like Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Myanmar and then G4 nations which are Germany, Japan, and Brazil.[3]
The following table categorizes some international cities according to the MEA classification system, ranging from A* (highest) to C*(NF) (lowest). Each category lists representative cities as per MEA guidelines.[12]
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.[3]
Serving as India's Representative: Foreign Service Officers work in Indian Embassies, High Commissions, Consulates, and Permanent Missions to multilateral organizations like the UN, where they act as the official representatives of India.
Protecting India's Interests: They are tasked with safeguarding and advancing India's national interests in the country where they are posted.
Fostering Friendly Relations: Diplomats promote and cultivate friendly relations between India and the host country, including its people, as well as with Non-Resident Indians (NRI) and People of Indian Origin (PIO) communities.
Accurate Reporting: Foreign Service Officers provide precise and timely reports on developments in the host country that may impact India's policies.
Negotiating Agreements: They engage in negotiations with the authorities of the host country to establish agreements on a range of issues.
Consular Services: Diplomats extend consular services to both foreign nationals in need and Indian citizens residing abroad, ensuring they receive necessary assistance and support.
Career Progression
After successfully passing the UPSC CSE examination, a selected Indian Foreign Service Officer Trainee (OT) is initially appointed as an Assistant Secretary in any of the MEA, where the officer is required to execute assigned tasks within any division of the MEA. Upon completion of an initial training period of approximately two months, the officer is posted abroad as a Third Secretary at an Indian Embassy or Indian High Commission for language training. Typically, after 1 to 2 years, the officer is promoted to the rank of Second Secretary at the respective diplomatic mission.[13][14]
After a period of 3 to 4 years of service abroad, the officer is recalled to the MEA and appointed as an Under Secretary, where they serve in any bench of the respective division of the MEA.[15]
Following 8 to 9 years of service, the officer is promoted to Deputy Secretary and may be posted either in the MEA under any division or abroad as a First Secretary.[16]
After 12 to 13 years of service, the officer attains the rank of Director and may also be posted abroad as a Counsellor.[17]
After 16 to 18 years of service, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet may empanel the officer at the rank of Joint Secretary, making them eligible for postings as either Deputy Chief of Mission or Deputy High Commissioner or Minister abroad. At this rank, officers serving in the MEA typically become the head of a division.[18][19]
After 26 to 27 years of service, promotion to the rank of Additional Secretary is possible, enabling appointments as Ambassador or High Commissioner to neighbouring countries of India or the G4 countries. Officers at this rank may also become head of important divisions in the MEA, such as the Americas division. The primary eligibility criterion for this promotion is that the officer must have a minimum of two years of service remaining before retirement.[20]
After 29 to 30 years of service, officers may be promoted by the Appointments Committee to the rank of Secretary, at which point they either serve as Ambassador or High Commissioner to P-5 countries or head the Secretary (East, West, South, ER, CPV) divisions in the MEA. The primary eligibility criterion for this promotion is that the officer must have a minimum of two years of service remaining before retirement, same as Additional Secretary.[21]
The officer is the senior-most in the foreign service.
The officer has completed over thirty years of service.
The officer has undertaken exceptional and crucial work during their career.
The officer has served as Ambassador or High Commissioner to at least one P-5 country.
The officer has served one or more times in neighbouring countries.
The officer possesses the utmost level of integrity.[23]
The decision of appointment to the post of Foreign Secretary is entirely at the discretion of the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.[24] In certain cases, the age of the officer is immaterial; for instance, S. Jaishankar, who joined the service at the age of 22, became Foreign Secretary, with only three days remaining before his retirement. Vinay Mohan Kwatra joined the service, even at the age of 26 and subsequently became Foreign Secretary. Conversely, many officers who joined at a young age, such as 23 or 24, did not attain this position, for not fulfilling the above conditions.
While higher studies, such as a Master's degree or Ph.D., are encouraged by the MEA to provide officers with a broader perspective, such qualifications do not influence promotion. For example, Harsh Vardhan Shringla holds only a B.A. degree and nevertheless became Foreign Secretary.
Rank Structure
In Indian missions abroad, the highest-ranking officials are the Heads of Missions, who holds the rank of ambassadors, high commissioners, and permanent representatives. They lead the various embassies, high commissions, and intergovernmental organisations worldwide. Heads of Posts are Consuls General who heads Consulate Generals in missions abroad. In MEA headquarters, the highest-ranking official among the secretaries is the Foreign Secretary.
Note: Apart from the basic pay, IFS officers posted in missions abroad are entitled to a Foreign Allowance, which is determined and revised periodically by the MEA. Based on various sources, it is estimated that the starting gross monthly remuneration (Basic Pay + Foreign Allowance + other admissible allowances) of an IFS officer posted abroad begins at a minimum of $4,000 per month at the rank of Third Secretary, and progressively increases to a minimum of $9,500 per month at the rank of Ambassador.[27]
When IFS officers are posted in India, their monthly pay is mostly same with that of an IAS officer of the same rank in the Ministry of External Affairs, although certain allowances may differ.
Note: Even at the Joint Secretary rank, some IFS officers may be appointed as Ambassador or High Commissioner to foreign countries (except the P-5 countries), provided there is a vacancy.[28]
Note: Any IFS officer may express a preference for their posting, either abroad or within the MEA. Generally, officers are assigned to their preferred postings whenever possible. However, if there are limited or no vacancies available for the desired posting, the final decision regarding the assignment rests with the Foreign Service Board (FSB). This provides an advantage over the All India Services officers like the IAS and IPS, where postings are determined at the discretion of the service authorities and are not necessarily aligned with the officers’ preferences.[29]
IFS officers may also be posted to Regional Passport Offices in any state of India as the Passport Officer. Additionally, there are several branch secretariats of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in cities such as Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Guwahati, and Hyderabad where IFS officers can be assigned. Certain institutes, including the SSIFS and the ICWA, also offer deputation opportunities for IFS officers.[34][35]
Unlike the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), IFS officers do not usually serve in state deputation; however, there are rare instances where officers have been posted to state governments, although significant barriers exist in this regard.[36]
Major concerns and reforms
Understaffed
India has one of the most understaffed diplomatic forces of any major country in the world.[37][38][39][40] Based on 2014 calculations there are about 2,700 "diplomatic rank" officers in overseas missions and at headquarters.[41] A minority of the diplomatic officers are Foreign Service (A) officers, the senior cadre of Indian diplomacy, which is primarily drawn from direct recruitment through the Civil Services Examination. Although sanctioned strength was 912, the actual strength of Group A was 770 officers in 2014.[41] In addition there were in 2014, 252 Grade-I officers of Indian Foreign Service (B) General Cadre who after promotion are inducted into Indian Foreign Service (A). The lower grades of the Indian Foreign Service(B) General Cadre included 635 attaches. The breakdown of other cadres and personnel included 540 secretarial staff, 33 from the Interpreters Cadre, 24 from the Legal and Treaties Cadre, and 310 personnel from other Ministries.[42]
In March 2023, Parliamentary Committeeon External Affairs criticized the service for being severely short-staffed and under-budgeted. In its Demand for Grants (2023–24) report, the committee highlighted that the cadre strength of Indian Foreign Service Officers is only 1,011 which is just 22.5 percent of the total strength. Out of IFS 'A' cadre, 667 are posted at diplomatic missions across the world and 334 are manning the headquarters in Delhi, which at present has 57 divisions.[45]
Declining prestige and quality
Since its inception and especially in the early decades of the service, the Indian Foreign Service had a reputation for attracting the country's most talented civil service aspirants.[46] The quality of candidates based on exam rank has significantly declined and the quality of candidates has created concerns about harm to prestige in expanding the size of the service.[47]
In the 1960s and 1970s, exam toppers generally in the top 20 opted for the Indian Foreign Service over the Indian Administrative Service and Indian Police Service, the other elite civil services. By late 1980s, the dip was appreciable and Indian Foreign Service spots did not fill until reaching much deeper down the list.[47] The Indian Foreign Service continues in recent years to have difficulty in attracting the most promising candidates. For the 2017 Civil Services Exam, only 5 of the top 100 candidates chose the Indian Foreign Service with the last ranking person from the General Category in the 152nd position.[citation needed] For candidates with reservation status, a candidate from the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the 640th position closed the list for Indian Foreign Service.[citation needed] The Indian Foreign Service has become less attractive due to higher pay in corporate jobs, other elite civil services like the All India Services promising more power, and fading glamour as foreign travel became common place.[46]
A parliamentary committee reviewing Indian Foreign Service reform in 2016 feared a negative feedback loop with the "deterioration" in candidate quality as both a "both a symptom and a reason for the erosion of prestige in the Indian Foreign Service". However, the committee was hard pressed to address the issue because it was also concerned about increasing the "quantity" of Indian diplomats.[48]T. P. Sreenivasan, a retired Foreign Service officer, argued in 2015 that "elitism should be preserved" for the Indian Foreign Service to perform effectively. He further lamented the Indian Foreign Service "is already a shadow of its former self" which dissuaded aspirants and the service needed to have its "attractiveness enhanced".[49]
Indian Foreign Service, Branch B
The Indian Foreign Service (Branch B), or IFS (B), has one cadre: the General cadre. Recruitments are made through separate competitive exams, named Combined Graduate Level Examination (CGLE), conducted by the Staff Selection Commission (SSC). For distinction, the IFS is mostly referred to as IFS (Group A) by the media and general public. Until 2009, the General cadre and Stenographers' cadre personnel were absorbed into IFS after serving a prescribed number of years. Officers from cadre who had joined IFS reached up to the post of ambassador. In 2009, the path to promotion to IFS was closed for the Stenographers cadre.[50]
In 2012, a counsellor at the high commission of India in Fiji, originally from the Stenographer's cadre, who had not joined the IFS was appointed as ambassador to North Korea. A senior MEA official said, they had no choice since no one from the IFS had wanted the posting in Pyongyang.[50] Three IFS (B) general cadre associations protested by writing to the Prime Minister's Office and the MEA, requesting to review the appointment. According to a senior MEA official, this was not the first time such appointments had occurred, mentioning past instances from the Interpreters' cadre and Cypher sub-cadre, and also recalled a previous appointment from the Stenographers' cadre as an ambassador in North Korea.[53]
↑B. N. Rau (June 1950 and March 1951), G. Parthasarathy (September 1967), Samar Sen (December 1972), Rikhi Jaipal (October 1977), Natarajan Krishnan (February 1985), Chinmaya R. Gharekhan (October 1991 and December 1992), Hardeep Singh Puri (August 2011 and November 2012), T. S. Tirumurti (August 2021), Ruchira Kamboj (December 2022).
↑"R&AW to Get Ripe Diplomat". The New Indian Express. 15 December 2015. Retrieved 3 February 2026. Example of IFS officers being deputed to intelligence agencies
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