The origin of the Indian Foreign Service can be traced back to the British rule when the Foreign Department was created to conduct business with the “Foreign European Powersâ€Â. In fact it was on September 13, 1783, when 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 businessâ€Â. Subsequently known as the “Indian Foreign Departmentâ€Â, it went ahead with the expansion of diplomatic representation, wherever necessary, to protect British interests.
In 1843, Governor-General Ellenborough carried out administrative reforms under which the Secretariat of the Government was organized under 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 governmentâ€Â.
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 of India during the British Raj) were treated as “political†and with all European powers as “foreignâ€Â.
Although the Government of India Act, 1935 sought 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 Foreign 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 September 30, 1944, recorded by Lt-Gen T. J. Hutton, Secretary, Planning and Development Department of the Government. When this note was referred to the Department of External Affairs for comments, Mr Olaf Caroe, the Foreign Secretary, recorded his comments in an exhaustive note detailing the scope, composition and functions of the proposed service. Mr Caroe pointed out that as India emerged to a position of autonomy and national consciousness, it was imperative to build up a system of representation abroad that would be in complete harmony with the objectives of the future government.
In September 1946, on the eve of India’s independence, the Government of India decided to create a service called the Indian Foreign Service for India’s diplomatic, consular and commercial representation overseas.
In 1947, there was a near seamless transformation of the Foreign and Political department of the British India government into what then became the new Ministry of External Affairs and Commonwealth Relations 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.
Training
On selection to the Indian Foreign Service through the combined Civil Services examination, the new entrants undergo a multi-faceted and comprehensive training programme intended to give them a thorough grounding in diplomatic knowledge, diplomatic qualities and diplomatic skills. The probationers commence their training, 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
Friday, September 25, 2009
IAS OUR DREAM COMPLETED SEVEN YEARs ON AUGUST 13,2016
Blog Archive
-
▼
2009
(1009)
-
▼
September
(289)
- India and Denmark sign MoU on Labour Mobility Part...
- India Releases Guidelines for Sustaining the Himal...
- Gram Nyayalaya Act 2008 to come into effect from O...
- Govt plans to set up 4 spy schools
- Committee watch
- Hmm watch this
- Hmm watch this
- Sunday Dhamaka (Watch inspirational videos)
- MUST watch
- Chronology of Ancient Indian History
- Some Appointments this year
- How to read newspaper
- guide to G-20 communique
- IAF Inducts Rapid Action Mobile Medical Hospital
- Pharma exports up by 29% in 2008-09
- Target of 80 lakh tonne additional foodgrains fixe...
- National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities and ...
- Ms. K. Sujatha Rao to be Secretary Health & Family...
- Habitable moons 'could to be spotted by 2014
- Full Text of PM’s Remarks at the G-20 Meeting at P...
- Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Awards 2009 announced
- CONSTITUTION OF INDIA
- GK bits
- special - Maoists: We control 5,000 villages
- Indian Geography useful notes
- Trial of INA
- Sign akin to Indus Valley found in Kerala
- The ABC of N-subs
- Chronology of Modern Indian History
- Fundamental rights which are involved in the issue...
- General knowledge quiz (25 Q)
- Bhadant Anand Kauslayayan (Personality watch)
- IFS (origin,whereabouts,then,now)
- News Watch (with NDTV)
- रमेश कुमार ने इतिहास रचा
- परमाणु अप्रसार पर प्रस्ताव पारित
- Haier appoints new India head
- mjunction launches coal spot price index
- 13 Indian firms make it to the Forbes Asia list
- New INS chief
- Indian payload helped M3 detect water
- China regains FIBA-Asia title
- भारत ने बनाया नया परमाणु संयंत्र
- एड्स के ख़िलाफ़ अहम सफलता
- The Gas Authority of India Ltd(GAIL)
- What is 3G ?
- Interview Questions which may be asked in 2009
- Scientist Watch
- GS sample paper
- Year of India in Russia
- First meeting of the National Social Security Boar...
- Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace & ...
- Greenland, Antarctica ice melt worsening, confirms...
- PSLV-C14 Launch
- Ministry plans 5,000 rural courts
- In stunning upset victory, woman to head UNESCO
- 7 In One Go
- भारत को विश्व बैंक से कर्ज़ मिला
- Geography bits
- Indian (Introduction):
- Nuclear Power and India
- Who's Who
- Gk Watch
- Latest Whos Who in World Organizations
- Polity
- List of presidents of the party
- Black Hole of Calcutta
- World War II and “Quit India” (from Gandhiji's poi...
- Ghadar Movement
- Image by khalampre via Flickr Norman Borlaug Nor...
- Komagata Maru
- Famous Mughal Monuments in India
- Fabian Society
- Banana republic
- Press Conference by FS on PM’s visit to Pittsburgh...
- India-Belarus bilateral RELATION
- Lok Adalat
- Award Watch
- TRAI
- 150 years of Indian Telecommunication
- Game watch
- Book Watch
- Archaeological Survey of India and its latest exca...
- Rural-Urban Fringe
- Extension of the term of the Thirteenth Finance Co...
- Vice President Releases the Book “The Other India:...
- Mamata Banerjee flags off Sealdah - New Delhi firs...
- Shakti', `Sakhi' to save women
- Do You Know Your ABC's of Vitamins & Minerals?
- Monument watch
- Scientists devise wire-free heart pump
- 1ST ROCKY EXTRASOLAR PLANET FOUND
- New Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama
- India Paramilitary Forces
- RGGVY – lighting up rural areas
- MCA21 e-Governance Project
- Sowa-Rigpa : Amendment of the Indian Medicine Cent...
- Expert Committee to review the Motor Vehicle Act, ...
- Australia in list of countries with high carbon em...
- U.S. approves four vaccines for Influenza A(H1N1)
-
▼
September
(289)