A little-known facet driving India’s foreign policy has been the evolution of training protocols developed by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) for the Indian Foreign Service (IFS). The design and execution of structured training have been a discreet factor contributing to backstopping India’s external relations and enabling its global positioning. A fluid external environment requires agility and varied skills from our diplomats. This imperative also draws upon India’s unique position where we have historically shown a capability to engage diverse interlocutors and groupings, be it the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) during the Cold War or BRICS and the Quad in today’s world.
The IFS is, by its very nature, policy-driven. This distinguishes it from the field-driven orientation of sister services like the Administrative or Police cadres. This was recognised early on with the establishment of the IFS in October 1946. The Cabinet decision then noted that “The special knowledge and the professional skill required of a diplomat can only be acquired through careful training.”
Training programmes were comprehensive, and curricula were designed accordingly to equip our diplomats to represent a newly independent country. In fact, well up until the late 50s, foreign service officers were sent either to the UK or USA. As the MEA website notes, this was to enable an officer “to widen his/her social and mental horizons and not merely the acquisition of academic distinction.” The range of subjects included world history, international law, the practice of diplomacy, and a foreign language. Officers were thereafter posted at headquarters to learn the basic ropes of how the Ministry operates before their deployment to missions abroad.
