Foreign Secretary (India)
{{Short description|Seniormost non-elected official of the Ministry of External Affairs of India}}
{{Distinguish|text=the Foreign Minister of India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2014}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2016}}
{{Infobox official post
| post = Foreign Secretary
| body = India
| flag = Flag of India.svg
| flagsize = 110px
| flagcaption = Flag of India
| insignia = Emblem_of_India.svg
| insigniasize = 100px
| insigniacaption = Emblem of India
| residence = 3, Circular Road, Chanakyapuri
New Delhi, India
| appointer = Appointments Committee of the Cabinet
| image = File:The Ambassador-designate of India to People's Republic of China, Shri Vikram Misri meeting with the President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, at Rashtrapati Bhavan on January 01, 2019 (cropped).jpg
| incumbent = Vikram Misri, IFS
| incumbentsince = 15 July 2024
| inaugural = K. P. S. Menon, ICS
| formation = 16 April 1948
| website = [https://www.mea.gov.in/fs.htm Ministry of External Affairs]
| reports_to = *President of India
- Parliament of India
- Council of Ministers of India
- Prime Minister of India
- External Affairs Minister of India
| termlength = Two years, term can be extended.
| department = Ministry of External Affairs
| native_name = विदेश सचिव
}}
{{Politics of India}}
The foreign secretary (ISO: 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 (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.{{Cite web|url=http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/table_of_precedence.pdf|title=Table of Precedence|date=July 26, 1979|website=Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India|publisher=President's Secretariat|url-status=dead|access-date=September 24, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140527155701/http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/table_of_precedence.pdf|archive-date=27 May 2014}} 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.{{cite web|url=http://darpg.gov.in/sites/default/files/CSMOP_0_0.pdf|title=Central Secretariat Manual of Office Procedure - 14th Edition (2015)|publisher=Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pension|page=6|access-date=15 November 2016}}
The role of the foreign secretary is as follows:{{cite book|title=Governance in India|last=Laxmikanth|first=M.|publisher=McGraw Hill Education|year=2014|isbn=978-9339204785|location=Noida|pages=3.1–3.10|edition=2nd }}
- 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.
- Recommends postings of officers under the Ministry of External Affairs of the rank of secretary, 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. The official earmarked residence of the union foreign secretary is 3, Circular Road, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi.
| class="wikitable mw-collapsible" style="margin: 1ex 0 1ex 1ex; " |
| +Foreign secretary monthly pay and allowances |
| Base Salary as per 7th Pay Commission (Per month)
!Pay Matrix Level |
|---|
| {{INRConvert|225000}}{{cite web|url=http://7cpc.india.gov.in/pdf/sevencpcreport.pdf|title=Report of the 7th Central Pay Commission of India|publisher=Seventh Central Pay Commission, Government of India|url-status=dead|access-date=August 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151120092637/http://7cpc.india.gov.in/pdf/sevencpcreport.pdf|archive-date=20 November 2015}}
|Pay Level 17 |
List of foreign secretaries
| class="wikitable" |
| No.
! Name ! Photo ! Took office ! Left office ! Minister of External Affairs |
|---|
| align="center"
| 1 | | 16 April 1948 | 21 September 1952 | rowspan="4" |Jawaharlal Nehru |
| align="center"
| 2 | 60px | 22 September 1952 | 10 October 1955 |
| align="center"
| 3 | | 11 October 1955 | 17 January 1961 |
| align="center"
| 4 | M. J. Desai | | 11 April 1961 | 4 December 1963 |
| align="center"
| rowspan="4" | 5 | rowspan="4" | Y. D. Gundevia | rowspan="4" | | rowspan="4" | 5 December 1963 | rowspan="4" | 18 February 1965 |
| align="center" |
| align="center" |
| align="center"
| rowspan="2" |Swaran Singh |
| align="center"
| rowspan="2" | 6 | rowspan="2" | C. S. Jha | rowspan="2" | | rowspan="2" | 19 February 1965 | rowspan="2" | 13 August 1967 |
| align="center" |
| align="center"
| 7 | | 19 August 1967 | 6 November 1968 |
| align="center"
| rowspan="3" | 8 | rowspan="3" | T. N. Kaul | rowspan="3" | | rowspan="3" | 7 November 1968 | rowspan="3" | 3 December 1972 |
| align="center" |
| align="center"
| rowspan="2" |Swaran Singh |
| align="center"
| rowspan="2" | 9 | rowspan="2" | Kewal Singh | rowspan="2" | | rowspan="2" | 4 December 1972 | rowspan="2" | 31 March 1976 |
| align="center"
| rowspan="2" | Yashwantrao Chavan |
| align="center"
| rowspan="2" | 10 | rowspan="2" | J. S. Mehta | rowspan="2" | | rowspan="2" | 1 April 1976 | rowspan="2" | 18 November 1979 |
| align="center" |
| align="center"
| rowspan="2" | 11 | rowspan="2" | Ram Sathe | rowspan="2" | | rowspan="2" | 19 November 1979 | rowspan="2" | 30 April 1982 |
| align="center"
| rowspan="2" |P. V. Narasimha Rao |
| align="center"
| rowspan="3" | 12 | rowspan="3" | M. K. Rasgotra | rowspan="3" | 60px | rowspan="3" | 1 May 1982 | rowspan="3" | 31 January 1985 |
| align="center" |
| align="center" |
| align="center"
| rowspan="2" | 13 | rowspan="2" | Romesh Bhandari | rowspan="2" | 60px | rowspan="2" | 1 February 1985 | rowspan="2" | 31 March 1986 |
| align="center"
| rowspan="2" |Bali Ram Bhagat |
| align="center"
| rowspan="3" | 14 | rowspan="3" | A. P. Venkateswaran | rowspan="3" | | rowspan="3" | 1 April 1986 | rowspan="3" | 20 January 1987 |
| align="center" |
| align="center" |
| align="center"
| 15 | K. P. S. Menon Jr. | | January 1987 | February 1989 |
| align="center"
| rowspan="3" | 16 | rowspan="3" | Shilendra Kumar Singh | rowspan="3" | | rowspan="3" | 16 February 1989 | rowspan="3" | 19 April 1990 |
| align="center" |
| align="center" |
| align="center"
| 17 | | 20 April 1990 | 30 November 1991 |
| align="center"
| rowspan="3" | 18 | rowspan="3" | J. N. Dixit | rowspan="3" | | rowspan="3" | 1 December 1991 | rowspan="3" | 31 January 1994 |
| align="center" |
| align="center"
| rowspan="2" |Dinesh Singh |
| align="center"
| rowspan="2" | 19 | rowspan="2" | Krishnan Srinivasan | rowspan="2" | 60x60px | rowspan="2" | 1 February 1994 | rowspan="2" | 28 February 1995 |
| align="center" |
| align="center"
| rowspan="3" | 20 | rowspan="3" | Salman Haidar | rowspan="3" | | rowspan="3" | 1 March 1995 | rowspan="3" | 30 June 1997 |
| align="center" |
| align="center"
| rowspan="2" |I. K. Gujral |
| align="center"
| rowspan="3" | 21 | rowspan="3" | K. Raghunath | rowspan="3" | | rowspan="3" | 1 July 1997 | rowspan="3" | 1 December 1999 |
| align="center" |
| align="center" |
| align="center"
| 22 | 60px | 1 December 1999 | 11 March 2001 | rowspan="2" | Jaswant Singh |
| align="center"
| 23 | Chokila Iyer[http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/India/Nirupama-Rao-is-Indias-new-foreign-secretary/articleshow/4844580.cms Nirupama Rao is India's new foreign secretary] The Times of India, 1 August 2009."Chokila Iyer was first woman, Indian Foreign Secretary in 2001." | | 12 March 2001 | 29 June 2002 |
| align="center"
| 24 | | 1 July 2002 | 30 November 2003 |
| align="center"
| rowspan="2" | 25 | rowspan="2" | Shashank | rowspan="2" | | rowspan="2" | 19 November 2003 | rowspan="2" | 31 July 2004 |
| align="center"
| rowspan="2" |Natwar Singh |
| align="center"
| rowspan="2" | 26 | rowspan="2" | Shyam Saran | rowspan="2" | 60px | rowspan="2" | 31 July 2004 | rowspan="2" | 1 September 2006 |
| align="center"
| rowspan="2" |Manmohan Singh |
| align="center"
| rowspan="3" | 27 | rowspan="3" | Shivshankar Menon | rowspan="3" | 60px | rowspan="3" | 1 September 2006 | rowspan="3" | 31 July 2009 |
| align="center" |
| align="center"
| rowspan="3" |S. M. Krishna |
| align="center"
| 28 | 60px | 31 July 2009 | 31 July 2011 |
| align="center"
| rowspan="2" | 29 | rowspan="2" | Ranjan Mathai | rowspan="2" | 60px | rowspan="2" | 1 August 2011 | rowspan="2" | 1 August 2013 |
| align="center"
| rowspan="2" |Salman Khurshid |
| align="center"
| rowspan="2" | 30 | rowspan="2" | Sujatha Singh | rowspan="2" | 60px | rowspan="2" | 1 August 2013 | rowspan="2" | 28 January 2015 |
| align="center"
| rowspan="3" |Sushma Swaraj |
| align="center"
| 31 |60px | 28 January 2015 | 28 January 2018 |
| align="center"
| rowspan="2" | 32 | rowspan="2" | Vijay Keshav Gokhale | rowspan="2" |60px | rowspan="2" | 29 January 2018 | rowspan="2" | 28 January 2020 |
| align="center"
| rowspan="4" |Subrahmanyam Jaishankar |
| align="center"
| 33 |60px | 29 January 2020 | 30 April 2022 |
| align="center"
|34 | 60px | 1 May 2022 | 14 July 2024 |
| 35
| 15 July 2024 | Incumbent |
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.mea.gov.in Ministry of External Affairs, Official website]
- [https://www.flickr.com/photos/menik/sets/72157603595144886/ Indian Foreign Secretaries Listing]
- [http://www.easa.nic.in/index.php?s=whateasa.htm&easaleftbar.php&cur=011111111&status=&mem= External Affairs Spouses Association or EASA]
{{Foreign relations of India}}
{{Union ministries of India}}