The foreign secretary (
ISO
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO ; ; ) is an independent, non-governmental, international standard development organization composed of representatives from the national standards organizations of member countries.
Me ...
: ''Vidēś Saciv'') is the topmost non-elected official and the administrative head of the
Ministry of External Affairs. This post is held by an
Indian Foreign Service
The Indian Foreign Service (IFS) is a diplomatic service and a Central Civil Services, central civil service of the Government of India, Government of the Republic of India under the Ministry of External Affairs (India), Ministry of External A ...
(IFS) officer of the rank of
secretary to the government of India.
Vikram Misri is the foreign secretary since July 2024, succeeding
Vinay Mohan Kwatra.
As an officer of the rank of secretary to the government of India, the foreign secretary ranks 23rd on the
Indian Order of Precedence.
However, unlike other secretaries to the government of India, the foreign secretary is also the top diplomat of the country and heads the Foreign Service Board.
Powers, responsibilities and postings
The foreign secretary is the administrative head of the
Ministry of External Affairs, and is the principal adviser to the
minister of external affairs on all matters of policy and administration within the ministry.
The role of the foreign secretary is as follows:
* To act as the administrative head of the
Ministry of External Affairs. The responsibility in this regard is complete and undivided.
* To act as the chief adviser to the
minister of external affairs on all aspects of policy and administrative affairs.
* To represent the
Ministry of External Affairs before the
Public Accounts Committee of the
Parliament of India
The Parliament of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Government of India, Government of the Republic of India. It is a bicameralism, bicameral legislature composed of the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok ...
.
* Recommends postings of officers under the
Ministry of External Affairs of the rank of
secretary
A secretary, administrative assistant, executive assistant, personal secretary, or other similar titles is an individual whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, program evalu ...
,
additional secretary and
joint secretary to the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC).
* To act as the
first among equals among the
secretaries in the
Ministry of External Affairs.
Emolument, accommodation and perquisites
The foreign secretary is eligible for a
diplomatic passport
A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that certifies a person's Identity (social science), identity and nationality for international travel. A passport allows its bearer to enter and temporarily reside in a foreign ...
. The official earmarked residence of the union foreign secretary is 3, Circular Road, Chanakyapuri,
New Delhi
New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...
.
List of foreign secretaries
See also
*
Cabinet Secretary of India
*
Defence Secretary of India
*
Home Secretary of India
*
Finance Secretary of India
*
Minister of External Affairs
References
External links
Ministry of External Affairs, Official websiteIndian Foreign Secretaries Listing
{{Union ministries of India
Indian Foreign Secretaries