Foreign Secretary (India)

Foreign Secretary of India
Emblem of India
Incumbent
Vijay Keshav Gokhale, IFS
since 29 January 2018
Reports to
Residence 3, Circular Road, Chanakyapuri
New Delhi, India
Appointer Appointments Committee of the Cabinet
Term length Two years, term can be extended.
Inaugural holder K. P. S. Menon
Formation 16 April 1948
Salary ₹225,000 (US$3,100) monthly[1][2]
Website Ministry of External Affairs

The Foreign Secretary (Videsh Sachiv) is the administrative head of the Ministry of External Affairs and is the top diplomat for foreign relations. This post is generally held by an IFS officer of the rank of Secretary to Government of India. The current Foreign Secretary is Vijay Keshav Gokhale.[3][4]

As a Secretary to Government of India, the Foreign Secretary ranks 23rd on Indian Order of Precedence.[5][6][7][8]

Powers, responsibilities and postings

Foreign Secretary is the administrative head of the Ministry of External Affairs, and is the principal adviser to the External Affairs Minister on all matters of policy and administration within the External Affairs Ministry.[9]

The role of Foreign Secretary is as follows:

Emolument, accommodation and perquisites

An Indian Diplomatic Passport and an Official Passport generally issued to the Foreign Secretary.

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, a Type-VIII bungalow.

As the Foreign Secretary is of the rank of Secretary to Government of India, his/her salary is equivalent[11] to Chief Secretaries of State Governments and to Vice Chief of Army Staff/Commanders, in the rank of Lieutenant General and equivalent ranks in Indian Armed Forces.[11]

Foreign Secretary monthly pay and allowances
Base Salary as per 7th Pay Commission (Per month) Pay Matrix Level Sources
₹225,000 (US$3,100) Pay Level 17 [1][2]

List of Foreign Secretaries

№ Name Took office Left office Minister of External Affairs
1 K.P.S. Menon 16 April 1948 21 September 1952 Jawaharlal Nehru
2 R.K. Nehru 22 September 1952 10 October 1955 Jawaharlal Nehru
3 Subimal Dutt 11 October 1955 17 January 1961 Jawaharlal Nehru
4 M. J. Desai 11 April 1961 4 December 1963 Jawaharlal Nehru
5 Y. D. Gundevia 5 December 1963 18 February 1965 Jawaharlal Nehru, Gulzarilal Nanda, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Sardar Swaran Singh
6 C.S. Jha 19 February 1965 13 August 1967 Sardar Swaran Singh, M.C. Chagla
7 Rajeshwar Dayal 19 August 1967 6 November 1968 Indira Gandhi
8 T. N. Kaul 7 November 1968 3 December 1972 Indira Gandhi, Dinesh Singh, Sardar Swaran Singh
9 Kewal Singh 4 December 1972 31 March 1976 Sardar Swaran Singh, Yashwantrao Chavan
10 J. S. Mehta 1 April 1976 18 November 1979 Yashwantrao Chavan, Atal Bihari Vajpayee
11 R.D. Sathe 19 November 1979 30 April 1982 Shyam Nandan Prasad Mishra, P V Narasimha Rao
12 M.K. Rasgotra 1 May 1982 31 January 1985 P V Narasimha Rao, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi
13 Romesh Bhandari 1 February 1985 31 March 1986 Rajiv Gandhi, Bali Ram Bhagat
14 A.P. Venkateswaran 1 April 1986 20 January 1987 Bali Ram Bhagat, P Shiv Shankar, Narayan Dutt Tiwari
15 K P S Menon Jr January 1987 February 1989
16 S.K. Singh 16 February 1989 19 April 1990 P V Narasimha Rao, Vishwanath Pratap Singh, I K Gujral
17 Muchukund Dubey 20 April 1990 30 November 1991 Inder Kumar Gujral
18 J.N. Dixit 1 December 1991 31 January 1994 Madhavsinh Solanki, P V Narasimha Rao, Dinesh Singh
19 Krishnan Srinivasan 1 February 1994 28 February 1995 Dinesh Singh, Pranab Mukherjee
20 Salman Haidar 1 March 1995 30 June 1997 Pranab Mukherjee, Sikander Bakht, I K Gujral
21 K. Raghunath 1 July 1997 1 December 1999 I K Gujral, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Jaswant Singh
22 Lalit Mansingh 1 December 1999 11 March 2001 Jaswant Singh
23 Chokila Iyer[12] 12 March 2001 29 June 2002 Jaswant Singh
24 Kanwal Sibal 1 July 2002 30 November 2003 Yashwant Sinha
25 Shashank 19 November 2003 31 July 2004 Yashwant Sinha, Natwar Singh
26 Shyam Saran 31 July 2004 1 September 2006 Natwar Singh, Dr. Manmohan Singh
27 Shivshankar Menon 1 September 2006 31 July 2009 Dr. Manmohan Singh, Pranab Mukherjee, S. M. Krishna
28 Nirupama Rao 31 July 2009 31 July 2011 S. M. Krishna
29 Ranjan Mathai 1 August 2011 1 August 2013 S. M. Krishna, Salman Khurshid
30 Sujatha Singh 1 August 2013 28 January 2015 Salman Khurshid, Sushma Swaraj
31 Subrahmanyam Jaishankar[4] 28 January 2015 28 January 2018 Sushma Swaraj
32 Vijay Keshav Gokhale 29 January 2018 Incumbent Sushma Swaraj

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Report of the 7th Central Pay Commission of India" (PDF). Seventh Central Pay Commission, Government of India. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  2. 1 2 Biswas, Shreya, ed. (June 29, 2016). "7th Pay Commission cleared: What is the Pay Commission? How does it affect salaries?". India Today. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
  3. ↑ https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/vijay-gokhale-takes-charge-as-foreign-secretary-of-india/articleshow/62689741.cms
  4. 1 2 "BJP defends move to replace foreign secretary, says no political motive". Hindustan Times. 29 January 2015. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  5. ↑ "Order of Precedence" (PDF). Rajya Sabha. President's Secretariat. July 26, 1979. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
  6. ↑ "Table of Precedence" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. President's Secretariat. July 26, 1979. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
  7. ↑ "Table of Precedence". Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. President's Secretariat. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
  8. ↑ Maheshwari, S.R. (2000). Indian Administration (6th Edition). New Delhi: Orient Blackswan Private Ltd. ISBN 9788125019886.
  9. ↑ "Central Secretariat Manual of Office Procedure - 14th Edition (2015)" (PDF). Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pension. p. 6. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  10. 1 2 3 Laxmikanth, M. (2014). Governance in India (2nd Edition). Noida: McGraw Hill Education. pp. 3.1–3.10. ISBN 978-9339204785.
  11. 1 2 "Army Pay Rules, 2017" (PDF). Ministry of Defence, Government of India. May 3, 2017. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
  12. ↑ 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."
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