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 Secretary to the Government of India, often abbreviated as Secretary, GoI, or simply as Secretary, is a post and a rank under the Central Staffing Scheme of the Government of India. The authority for the creation of this post solely rests with ...

Vikram Misri Vikram Misri (born 7 November 1964) is an Indian diplomat of the Indian Foreign Service, currently serving as the 35th Foreign Secretary (India), Foreign Secretary of India since July 2024. Previously, he served as the Deputy National Security ...

is the foreign secretary since July 2024, succeeding

Vinay Mohan Kwatra Vinay Mohan Kwatra, (born 15 December 1962) is an Indian diplomat of Indian Foreign Service who served as the 34th Foreign Secretary of India, from May 2022 until July 2024 and is currently serving as Ambassador of India to the United States ...

. As an officer of the rank of secretary to the government of India, the foreign secretary ranks 23rd on the

Indian Order of Precedence The order of precedence of the Republic of India is a list in which the functionaries, dignitaries and officials are listed for ceremonial purposes and has no legal standing and does not reflect the Indian presidential line of succession or the ...

. 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 In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral rela ...

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

on all aspects of policy and administrative affairs. * To represent the Ministry of External Affairs before the

Public Accounts Committee A public accounts committee (PAC) is a committee within a legislature whose role is to study public audits, invite ministers, permanent secretaries or other ministry officials to the committee for questioning, and report on their findings subseque ...

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 is a Latin phrase meaning first among equals. It is typically used as an honorary title for someone who is formally equal to other members of their group but is accorded unofficial respect, traditionally owing to their seniority in office. H ...

among the

secretaries A secretary, administrative assistant, executive assistant, Personal assistant, personal secretary, or other similar titles is an individual whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project manageme ...

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

References

External links

Ministry of External Affairs, Official website

Indian Foreign Secretaries Listing

{{Union ministries of India Indian Foreign Secretaries

Powers, responsibilities and postings

Emolument, accommodation and perquisites

List of foreign secretaries

See also

References

External links