By: Swati Singh
Good armies fight wars and win but good diplomats deter wars and win. The Indian foreign Services is one of the most prestigious and elite services in the country. Those who desire to become a part of this service and a career diplomat needs to clear the Civil Services Examination (CSE) first. A diplomat is considered to be a representative of his/her country and a foot soldier of its foreign policy.
In spite of the bureaucratised entry system , many former Indian official have stated that an understaffed and underprepared foreign ministry is holding back the government’s plan to seek greater global influence in line with the country’s fast growing $2.6 trillion economy. India has around 1.3 billion people, but fewer than 1000 diplomats. With roughly around 940 Indian Foreign Service officer, India is one among the foremost understaffed diplomatic service of any major economy .
Lack of diplomats restricts the ministry of External Affairs from processing all the knowledge it receives from various embassies and consulates , and an outsized number of small countries that are deemed as less strategically important are neglected. This deficiency also hinders the MEA’s capacity to manage multiple negotiations at an equivalent time .The Ministry of External Affairs during a written reply to the Parliamentary committee on Foreign Affairs in 2016 had said,“India features a pool of about 2,700 diplomatic rank officers in our Missions/Posts abroad and at Headquarters, including those from the feeder service and other Ministries and Services. In contrast, China has 4,500 diplomats, Japan has 5,700 diplomats, Brazil has 2,000, Italy has 910 and Korea has 1,250. Thus its understood to possess about 20,000 diplomats. We are, therefore, not among the least of the diplomatic services.”
As the BJP’s 2019 election manifesto promises to “increase the strength of the diplomatic and allied cadres to stay pace with our increasing global engagement”. Perhaps the thought shouldn't be limited to increasing the dimensions of Foreign Service but also to implement lateral entry, an idea that has been opposed fervidly by the government officials cadre within the past.
According to India’s interpretation of ‘Lateral entry’ any officer from all India services can be posted broad for overseas mission to execute a specific job. But , for the lateral entrants ,there is no opportunity to grow in the service because they have to return to their parent service after the completion of mission. The ‘revolving door ’concept can be considered as one of the best option where experts in academics, scholars, research professionals or industry experts should be given an option to serve in the diplomatic ranks. The veil between these fields and diplomacy got to be lifted and interoperability must be tested. The United States and European Union have been following this kind of inter-operability for decades, and with success.
Another best option would be to depart from the colonial system of examination for Foreign services. A completely different exam should be conducted and the selection procedure should be focussed on diplomacy, economic, history, global governance, negotiation skills and therefore this law should be introduced so that area-specific meritocratic professionals come into foreign diplomacy services and policy making. India features a lot to contribute towards global politics and for India to take care of its position as a worldwide power, reshaping and revamping of IFS is an immediate necessity.
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