The Indian Foreign Service (IFS) is the diplomatic service and a central civil service of the Government of India under the Ministry of External Affairs. The Foreign Secretary is the head of the service. Vinay Mohan Kwatra is the 34th and the current Foreign Secretary.
The Ministry of External Affairs of India is the government agency responsible for implementing Indian foreign policy. The Ministry of External Affairs is headed by the Minister of External Affairs,a Cabinet Minister. The Foreign Secretary,an Indian Foreign Service officer,is the most senior civil servant who is the head of the Department of Foreign Affairs. The Ministry represents the Government of India through embassies and is also responsible for India's representation at the United Nations and other international organizations and expanding and safeguarding India's influence and Indian interests across the world by providing developmental aid to other countries worth billions of dollars. It also advises other Ministries and State Governments on foreign governments and institutions.
Chonira Belliappa Muthamma was the first woman to clear the Indian Civil Services examinations. She was also the first woman to join the Indian Foreign Service. She was the first Indian woman diplomat as well. Later,she became the first Indian woman Ambassador also. She is remembered for her successful crusade for gender equality in the Indian Civil Services.
Subrahmanyam Jaishankar is an Indian diplomat and politician serving as the Minister of External Affairs of the Government of India since 30 May 2019. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party and a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha since 5 July 2019. He previously served as the Foreign Secretary from January 2015 to January 2018. He became the second ever diplomat to be appointed as India's External Affairs minister,after Natwar Singh.
Gautam Bambawale is an Indian diplomat and served as the Indian Ambassador to China from 2017 to 2018. He had previously served as the Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan.
Sujata Mehta is a former Indian Foreign Service officer and former member of the Union Public Service Commission.
Equatorial Guinea and India maintain diplomatic relations.
Pauline Miranda Clerk was a Ghanaian civil servant,diplomat and a presidential advisor.
Preeti Saran,born 5 September 1958,is an Indian civil servant of the Indian Foreign Service cadre 1982 batch. In December 2018,Saran was elected unopposed to the United Nations Committee on Economic,Social and Cultural Rights for a term from 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2022.
Anil Wadha;born 26 May 1957 is an Indian civil servant who belongs to the Indian Foreign Service cadre. He has served as the Indian Ambassador to Italy,Poland,Oman and Thailand. He is currently a Senior Fellow &Cluster Leader at the Vivekananda International Foundation in New Delhi.
Riva Ganguly Das is a retired Indian civil servant who belongs to the Indian Foreign Service cadre. She is the former High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh and former Director General of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations,an autonomous organisation of the Government of India.
Mukta Dutta Tomar is an Indian civil servant who belongs to the Indian Foreign Service cadre. She is the incumbent Indian Ambassador to Germany.
The Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations is the formal title of the Indian delegation to the United Nations (UN). India was among the founding members of the United Nations and signed the Declaration by United Nations on 1 January 1942. India also participated in the United Nations Conference on International Organization and Diwan Bahadur Sir Arcot Ramasamy Mudaliar signed the United Nations Charter on India's behalf.
Reenat Sandhu is an Indian diplomat and the ambassador to the Netherlands. She had previously served as the Indian Ambassador to Italy and San Marino.
Samuel Arthur Odoi-Sykes is a Ghanaian politician,diplomat and lawyer. He served as Ghana's High Commissioner to Canada from 2001 to 2006 and Deputy High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1972. He was National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party from 1998 to 2001 during which the party won its first presidential victory. In the Third Republic,he was Member of Parliament for Ashiedu Keteke from 1979 to 1981 and Minority Leader of Parliament from 1980 to 1981.
A. Gitesh Sarma or Anumula Gitesh Sarma is an Indian diplomat. He has worked for the Indian Foreign Service since 1986. He completed his schooling from St. Xavier's School,Hazaribagh and received a BA and an MA from Delhi University.
The Conservative Friends of India is linked to the Conservative Party in the UK,and is a membership organisation which engages with the British Indian community and played a significant role in the Conservative campaign in the 2019 general election,as well as supporting the development of stronger India–United Kingdom relations. It actively campaigns for the Conservative Party in the British Indian community. The organisation was also responsible for releasing Hindi campaign songs for the Conservative Party in recent elections supporting David Cameron,Theresa May and Zac Goldsmith.
Gaitri Issar Kumar is a retired Indian Foreign Service officer from the 1986 batch. Her last posting was as the High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom. Prior to that,she served as Ambassador to Belgium,the European Union and Luxembourg. She also had stints as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the Indian Embassy in Paris,and Counselor in the Permanent Mission of India in Geneva as well as at the Ministry of External Affairs in Delhi.
