The Ministry of External Affairs (abbreviated as MEA;

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 ...

: ) is India's

foreign ministry 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 re ...

. The ministry is tasked with formulating and implementing India's foreign policy and representing India on the global stage. The Ministry is headed by 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 ...

, a member of the Prime Minister's Cabinet. The Minister is typically assisted by one or more junior ministers, known as Ministers of State (MoS) for External Affairs. The Foreign Secretary of the Republic of India is the senior-most non-elected official and the administrative head of the ministry. The Ministry of External Affairs operates more than 200 diplomatic missions around the world through which it represents the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

on the international stage. In addition, the Ministry is responsible for India's representation at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

and other international organizations. The Ministry is also responsible for the repatriation of Indian citizens in danger abroad and in the extradition of fugitives who have fled India. The Ministry of External Affairs may also advise other ministries and state governments in their interactions with foreign entities and brief them on pertinent international developments. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, consisting of elected members from both the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

and the

Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...

, is tasked with this ministry's legislative oversight.

History

The Ministry was initially the Ministry of External Affairs and Commonwealth Relations, a holdover from the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

. It was renamed the Ministry of External Affairs in 1948. Prime Minister

Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a pr ...

held the portfolio as an additional charge till his death in 1964 and it was only then that a separate Minister with Cabinet rank was appointed. The ministry is responsible for the administration of

Naga Hills The Naga Hills, reaching a height of around , lie prominently on the border of India and Myanmar. They are part of a complex mountain system, and the parts of the mountain ranges inside the States and territories of India, Indian states of Naga ...

, Tuensang Area, the Emigration Act of 1983, the Reciprocity Act of 1943, the Port Haj Committee Act of 1932, the Indian Merchant Shipping Act in so far as it relates to pilgrim ships, the Indian Pilgrim Shipping Rules of 1933, the Protection of Pilgrims Act of 1887 (Bombay) and the Protection of the Mohammedan Pilgrims Act of 1896 (Bengal). The Ministry was integrated with

Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs The Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) was a ministry of the Government of India. It was dedicated to all matters relating to the Indian diaspora around the world. History Ministry was established in May 2004 as the Ministry of Non-Res ...

on 7 January 2016. The government said that the decision was taken in line with government's "overall objective of minimizing government and maximizing governance" and that it will help the government address duplication as well as unnecessary delays. The Ministry is the cadre-controlling authority of the

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 ...

; the service is wholly under the administration and supervision of the External Affairs Ministry.

Organizational structure

The Ministry of External Affairs is headed by the Minister of External Affairs (or simply, the Foreign Minister; in ).The Foreign Secretary is the most senior civil servant who is the head of the Department of Foreign Affairs, and is supported by other

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 ...

level officers. * Foreign Secretary —

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 ...

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 ...

(West) — Tanmaya Lal *

(East) — Periasamy Kumaran *

(Economic Relations) — Dammu Ravi *

(Consular, Passport, Visa and Overseas Indian Affairs) — Arun Kumar Chatterjee *

(Dean)

Sushma Swaraj Institute of Foreign Service The Sushma Swaraj Institute of Foreign Service is the civil service training institute in New Delhi, where Indian Foreign Service officers are trained. The Institute functions under the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. About ...

— Raj Kumar Srivastava * Official Spokesperson and Additional Secretary (External Publicity) —

Randhir Jaiswal Randhir Jaiswal is an Indian diplomat of 1998 batch of Indian Foreign Service and is currently serving as the Official Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs of India. Diplomatic Career Randhir Jaiswal is a 1998 batch Indian Forei ...

Development Partnership Administration

Development Partnership Administration (DPA) is an agency under the Ministry of External Affairs formed in 2013 to increase its strategic footprint and for the effective execution of projects with professionals from diverse backgrounds. India has an elaborate project portfolio in its neighbourhood, including Bhutan, Nepal, Afghanistan, Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh, as well as Africa and Latin America. It is headed by Sujata Mehta, one of India's foremost diplomats and former Indian representative to the UN Conference on Disarmament, Geneva. Mehta is Special Secretary in the MEA. According to

OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; , OCDE) is an international organization, intergovernmental organization with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and international trade, wor ...

estimates, 2019

official development assistance Official development assistance (ODA) is a category used by the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to measure foreign aid. The DAC first adopted the concept in 1969. It is w ...

from India increased to US$1.6 billion.

''India Perspectives''

''India Perspectives'' is the flagship publication of the Ministry of External Affairs. A bi-monthly magazine, it is digitally published in English and Hindi, and 14 other international languages, with a readership spanning 170 countries. It is crafted to support the Ministry's diplomatic initiatives and highlight India's bilateral ties with the rest of the world. The magazine provides an insight into India's culture and tradition along with elements of contemporary India. With intelligent, analytical and verified editorial content, the publication is one of the most authentic sources of information regarding India's ‘soft diplomacy’ initiatives as well as its rich cultural, scientific and political heritage. By showcasing the country's various facets through original stories on travel, art, music, cinema and more, the magazine takes India to the world.

Location

The office of the Ministry is located in the South Block building which also contains the Prime Minister's office and

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

. Other offices are located in Jawaharlal Nehru Bhawan, Shastri Bhawan, Patiala House, and ISIL Building.

Parliamentary Standing Committee

Parliamentary Standing

Committee on External Affairs The Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs is a department related standing committee (DRSC) of selected members of parliament, constituted by the Parliament of India, for the purpose of legislative oversight of the foreign pol ...

is mandated with the task of the legislative oversight of the Ministry of External Affairs.

Under Strength

In March 2023, the committee in its ''Demand for Grants (2023–24)'' report, criticized the ministry for being "most short-staffed" and under-budgeted. The committee highlighted that The total strength of 4,888 is distributed across different cadres of the Ministry such as the

(IFS), IFS General Cadre, IFS Group B, Stenographers Cadre, Interpreters Cadre, Legal and Treaties Cadre, among others. The cadre strength of Indian Foreign Service Officers is only 1,011, just 22.5 percent of the total strength. Out of IFS 'A' cadre, 667 are posted at the Missions abroad and 334 are manning the headquarters in Delhi, which currently has 57 divisions. The committee also highlighted that the ministry “remains one amongst the least funded central ministries” as its actual annual spending has been around 0.4% of the total budgetary allocation of the government since 2020–21.

Notes

References

External links

Official website of the Ministry of External AffairsOfficial Twitter handle of the Ministry
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India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Ministries established in 1948 1948 establishments in India