Indian Foreign Secretary
Encyclopedia
An Indian Foreign Secretary is the top diplomat for Indian Foreign Relations
, who is appointed in the Ministry of External Affairs
Office. Foreign Secretaries are experienced IFS
officers, who are ambassadors to foreign nations.
Foreign relations of India
India has formal diplomatic relations with most nations, as the world's second most populous country and the world's most-populous democracy and recently has one of the fastest economic growth rates in the world...
, who is appointed in the Ministry of External Affairs
Ministry of External Affairs (India)
The Ministry of External Affairs is the foreign ministry of India. It is the Indian government agency responsible for the foreign relations of India. The Minister of External Affairs holds cabinet rank as a member of the Council of Ministers. The current minister is S M Krishna...
Office. Foreign Secretaries are experienced IFS
Indian Foreign Service
The Indian Foreign Service is the foreign service of India. It is the body of career diplomats of India.The Indian Foreign Service is part of the Central Civil Services of the Government of India...
officers, who are ambassadors to foreign nations.
List of Indian Foreign Secretaries
| Name | Took office | Left office | Minister of External Affairs |
|---|---|---|---|
| K.P.S. Menon | 16 April 1948 | 21 September 1952 | Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru , often referred to with the epithet of Panditji, was an Indian statesman who became the first Prime Minister of independent India and became noted for his “neutralist” policies in foreign affairs. He was also one of the principal leaders of India’s independence movement in the... (Prime Minister) |
| R. K. Nehru R. K. Nehru Ratan Kumar Nehru or R.K. Nehru, is an Indian civil servant and diplomat. He was a cousin of Jawaharlal Nehru . He was the secretary-general of the Indian Ministry of foreign affairs and also served as ambassador to several countries in the 1950s and 60s... |
22 September 1952 | 10 October 1955 | Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru , often referred to with the epithet of Panditji, was an Indian statesman who became the first Prime Minister of independent India and became noted for his “neutralist” policies in foreign affairs. He was also one of the principal leaders of India’s independence movement in the... (Prime Minister) |
| S. Dutt | 11 October 1955 | 17 January 1961 | Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru , often referred to with the epithet of Panditji, was an Indian statesman who became the first Prime Minister of independent India and became noted for his “neutralist” policies in foreign affairs. He was also one of the principal leaders of India’s independence movement in the... (Prime Minister) |
| M. J. Desai | 11 April 1961 | 04 December 1963 | Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru , often referred to with the epithet of Panditji, was an Indian statesman who became the first Prime Minister of independent India and became noted for his “neutralist” policies in foreign affairs. He was also one of the principal leaders of India’s independence movement in the... (Prime Minister) |
| Y.D.Gundevia | 05 December 1963 | 18 February 1965 | Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru , often referred to with the epithet of Panditji, was an Indian statesman who became the first Prime Minister of independent India and became noted for his “neutralist” policies in foreign affairs. He was also one of the principal leaders of India’s independence movement in the... (Prime Minister), Gulzarilal Nanda Gulzarilal Nanda Gulzarilal Nanda was an Indian politician and an economist with specialization in labour problems. He was the interim Prime Minister of India twice for thirteen days each: the first time after the death of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1964, and the second time after the death of Prime... , Lal Bahadur Shastri Lal Bahadur Shastri Lal Bahadur Srivastava Shastri was the second Prime Minister of the Republic of India and a significant figure in the Indian independence movement.-Early life:... (Prime Minister), Sardar Swaran Singh Sardar Swaran Singh Sardar Swaran Singh was an Indian politician. He was India's longest serving union cabinet minister.- Early life :Saradar Swaran Singh was born on 19th August 1907 in Shankar Village in Jallandhar District of Punjab. He was born into an agricultural family.... |
| C.S. Jha | 19 February 1965 | 13 August 1967 | Sardar Swaran Singh Sardar Swaran Singh Sardar Swaran Singh was an Indian politician. He was India's longest serving union cabinet minister.- Early life :Saradar Swaran Singh was born on 19th August 1907 in Shankar Village in Jallandhar District of Punjab. He was born into an agricultural family.... , M.C. Chagla |
| R.Dayal | 19 August 1967 | 06 November 1968 | Indira Gandhi Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhara was an Indian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms and a fourth term . She was assassinated by Sikh extremists... (Prime Minister) |
| T. N. Kaul T. N. Kaul Triloki Nath Kaul was one of India's foremost diplomats, who remained Indian Foreign Secretary and strategic studies experts.-Life:... |
7 November 1968 | 3 December 1972 | Indira Gandhi Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhara was an Indian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms and a fourth term . She was assassinated by Sikh extremists... (Prime Minister), Dinesh Singh Dinesh Singh Dinesh Singh was an Indian politician. A member of the Kalakankar dynasty, he served as a Member of Parliament on several occasions and twice served as the Minister of External Affairs of India .-Early life and education:... , Sardar Swaran Singh Sardar Swaran Singh Sardar Swaran Singh was an Indian politician. He was India's longest serving union cabinet minister.- Early life :Saradar Swaran Singh was born on 19th August 1907 in Shankar Village in Jallandhar District of Punjab. He was born into an agricultural family.... |
| Shri. K. Singh | 4 December 1972 | 31 March 1976 | Sardar Swaran Singh Sardar Swaran Singh Sardar Swaran Singh was an Indian politician. He was India's longest serving union cabinet minister.- Early life :Saradar Swaran Singh was born on 19th August 1907 in Shankar Village in Jallandhar District of Punjab. He was born into an agricultural family.... , Yashwantrao Chavan Yashwantrao Chavan Yashwantrao Balwantrao Chavan was the first Chief Minister of Maharashtra after the division of Bombay State and the fifth Deputy Prime Minister of India. He was a strong Congress leader, Cooperative leader, social activist and writer. He was popularly known as Leader of Common People... |
| J. S. Mehta | 1 April 1976 | 18 November 1979 | Yashwantrao Chavan Yashwantrao Chavan Yashwantrao Balwantrao Chavan was the first Chief Minister of Maharashtra after the division of Bombay State and the fifth Deputy Prime Minister of India. He was a strong Congress leader, Cooperative leader, social activist and writer. He was popularly known as Leader of Common People... , Atal Bihari Vajpayee Atal Bihari Vajpayee Atal Bihari Vajpayee is an Indian statesman who served as the tenth Prime Minister of India three times – first for a brief term of 13 days in 1996, and then for two terms from 1998 to 2004. After his first brief period as Prime Minister in 1996, Vajpayee headed a coalition government from... |
| R. D. Sathe | 19 November 1979 | 30 April 1982 | Shyam Nandan Prasad Mishra Shyam Nandan Prasad Mishra Shyam Nandan Mishra was born at Gonawan, Patna, India in October, 1920, and had his education at Sursand, Muzaffarpur and Patna Law College, Patna.... , P V Narasimha Rao |
| M.K. Rasgotra | 1 May 1982 | 31 January 1985 | P V Narasimha Rao, Indira Gandhi Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhara was an Indian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms and a fourth term . She was assassinated by Sikh extremists... (Prime Minister), Rajiv Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi Rajiv Ratna Gandhi was the sixth Prime Minister of India . He took office after his mother's assassination on 31 October 1984; he himself was assassinated on 21 May 1991. He became the youngest Prime Minister of India when he took office at the age of 40.Rajiv Gandhi was the elder son of Indira... (Prime Minister) |
| Romesh Bhandari Romesh Bhandari Romesh Bhandari is a former Indian Foreign Secretary, former Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and former governor of Tripura, Goa and Uttar Pradesh.-Career:... |
1 February 1985 | 31 March 1986 | Rajiv Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi Rajiv Ratna Gandhi was the sixth Prime Minister of India . He took office after his mother's assassination on 31 October 1984; he himself was assassinated on 21 May 1991. He became the youngest Prime Minister of India when he took office at the age of 40.Rajiv Gandhi was the elder son of Indira... (Prime Minister) , Bali Ram Bhagat Bali Ram Bhagat Bali Ram Bhagat was an Indian politician. He was born in Patna, Bihar. He served as the Speaker of Lok Sabha from 1976 to 1977, during the turbulent final year of Indira Gandhi’s first reign as prime minister. He served as Minister for External Afairs of India under Indira’s son, Rajiv Gandhi,... |
| A.P.Venkataeshwaran | 1 April 1986 | 20 January 1987 | Bali Ram Bhagat Bali Ram Bhagat Bali Ram Bhagat was an Indian politician. He was born in Patna, Bihar. He served as the Speaker of Lok Sabha from 1976 to 1977, during the turbulent final year of Indira Gandhi’s first reign as prime minister. He served as Minister for External Afairs of India under Indira’s son, Rajiv Gandhi,... , P Shiv Shankar, Narayan Dutt Tiwari Narayan Dutt Tiwari Narayan Dutt Tiwari is an Indian political figure. He was Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh three times during the 1970s and 1980s and was Chief Minister of Uttarkhand from 2002 to 2007... |
| S.K. Singh | 16 February 1989 | 19 April 1990 | P V Narasimha Rao, Vishwanath Pratap Singh (Prime Minister), I K Gujral |
| Muchukund Dubey Muchukund Dubey Prof. Muchukund Dubey is a Former Ambassador and Former Indian Foreign Secretary, the administrative head of the Indian Foreign Service, Government of India., he is also President of Council for Social Development , and Chairman of the Asian Development Research Institute, Patna... |
20 April 1990 | 30 November 1991 | Inder Kumar Gujral Inder Kumar Gujral Inder Kumar Gujral served as the 12th Prime Minister of India. Gujral was the first PM to govern exclusively from the Rajya Sabha; , only he and Manmohan Singh have done so.-Early life:... |
| J.N. Dixit | 1 December 1991 | 31 January 1994 | Madhavsinh Solanki Madhavsinh Solanki Madhavsinh Solanki is a former Indian External Affairs Minister from the state of Gujarat.-External links:*http://rajyasabha.nic.in/kiosk/whoswho/alpha_s32.htm... , P V Narasimha Rao (Prime Minister), Dinesh Singh Dinesh Singh Dinesh Singh was an Indian politician. A member of the Kalakankar dynasty, he served as a Member of Parliament on several occasions and twice served as the Minister of External Affairs of India .-Early life and education:... |
| Krishnan Srinivasan Krishnan Srinivasan Krishnan Srinivasan is an Indian diplomat, scholar and the former Foreign Secretary of the Republic of India. As Foreign Secretary, he was the functional Head of the Indian Foreign Ministry and the highest ranking diplomat in the country... |
1 February 1994 | 28 February 1995 | Dinesh Singh Dinesh Singh Dinesh Singh was an Indian politician. A member of the Kalakankar dynasty, he served as a Member of Parliament on several occasions and twice served as the Minister of External Affairs of India .-Early life and education:... , Pranab Mukherjee Pranab Mukherjee Pranab Kumar Mukherjee is the current Finance Minister of India and leader of the current Lok Sabha.Mukherjee is a senior member of the Cabinet Committees on Economic Affairs, Infrastructure, Parliamentary Affairs, Political Affairs, Prices, Security, Unique Identification Authority of India,... |
| Salman Haidar | 1 March 1995 | 30 June 1997 | Pranab Mukherjee Pranab Mukherjee Pranab Kumar Mukherjee is the current Finance Minister of India and leader of the current Lok Sabha.Mukherjee is a senior member of the Cabinet Committees on Economic Affairs, Infrastructure, Parliamentary Affairs, Political Affairs, Prices, Security, Unique Identification Authority of India,... , Sikander Bakht Sikander Bakht Sikander Bakht was a politician from India. He was one of the Indian statesman and one of tallest leaders of BJP.-Early life:... , I K Gujral (Prime Minister) |
| K. Raghunath K. Raghunath K. Raghunath is an Indian diplomat who served as the Foreign Secretary of India in the late 1990s. He previously served as the Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh as well as Ambassador to Russia, Nigeria and the Philippines.-Biography:... |
1 July 1997 | 1 December 1999 | I K Gujral (Prime Minister), Atal Bihari Vajpayee Atal Bihari Vajpayee Atal Bihari Vajpayee is an Indian statesman who served as the tenth Prime Minister of India three times – first for a brief term of 13 days in 1996, and then for two terms from 1998 to 2004. After his first brief period as Prime Minister in 1996, Vajpayee headed a coalition government from... (Prime Minister), Jaswant Singh Jaswant Singh - Career :He is one of the few Indian politicians to have been the Minister for Defence, Finance and External Affairs.He started the new government of Vajpayee, which lasted its full term, as the External Affairs Minister and later on switched his ministry to Finance with Yashwant Sinha... |
| Lalit Mansingh Lalit Mansingh Dr. Lalit Mansingh is the former Indian diplomat, the Foreign Secretary of India, 1999–2000, and Indian Ambassador to the United States on March 15, 2001... |
1 December 1999 | 11 March 2001 | Jaswant Singh Jaswant Singh - Career :He is one of the few Indian politicians to have been the Minister for Defence, Finance and External Affairs.He started the new government of Vajpayee, which lasted its full term, as the External Affairs Minister and later on switched his ministry to Finance with Yashwant Sinha... |
| Chokila Iyer Chokila Iyer Chokila Iyer is India's first woman Foreign secretary. She took charge on 14 March 2001 replacing Mr. Lalit Mansingh. She is 1964 Batch Officer, a native of Sikkim, earlier headed the Indian Mission in Ireland.... |
12 March 2001 | 29 June 2002 | Jaswant Singh Jaswant Singh - Career :He is one of the few Indian politicians to have been the Minister for Defence, Finance and External Affairs.He started the new government of Vajpayee, which lasted its full term, as the External Affairs Minister and later on switched his ministry to Finance with Yashwant Sinha... |
| Kanwal Sibal Kanwal Sibal Kanwal Sibal is a former foreign secretary of India. He was foreign secretary from July 2002 to November 2003. He served as India's ambassador to Turkey, France and Egypt.-References:... |
1 July 2002 | 30 November 2003 | Yashwant Sinha Yashwant Sinha Yashwant Sinha is an Indian politician and a former finance minister of India and foreign minister in Atal Bihari Vajpayee's cabinet... |
| Shashank Shashank (diplomat) Shashank is a former foreign secretary of India. He was secretary from December 2003 to July 2004.He also served as India's Ambassador to Denmark, South Korea and Libya.-References:... |
19 November 2003 | 31 July 2004 | Yashwant Sinha Yashwant Sinha Yashwant Sinha is an Indian politician and a former finance minister of India and foreign minister in Atal Bihari Vajpayee's cabinet... , Natwar Singh |
| Shyam Saran Shyam Saran Shyam Saran was Foreign Secretary in the Government of India.He is a 1970 batch Indian Foreign Service officer. Before this, he has served as Indian Ambassador to Nepal, Indian Ambassador to Indonesia and Indian Ambassador to Myanmar, High Commissioner to Mauritius, Joint Secretary in the Prime... |
31 July 2004 | 1 September 2006 | Natwar Singh, Dr. Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh is the 13th and current Prime Minister of India. He is the only Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to return to power after completing a full five-year term. A Sikh, he is the first non-Hindu to occupy the office. Singh is also the 7th Prime Minister belonging to the Indian... (Prime Minister) |
| Shiv Shankar Menon Shiv Shankar Menon Shivshankar Menon or Sivasankara Menon is the present National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister of India. He previously served as the Foreign Secretary, the Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan and in China and Israel as ambassador and diplomat... |
1 September 2006 | 31 July 2009 | Dr. Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh is the 13th and current Prime Minister of India. He is the only Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to return to power after completing a full five-year term. A Sikh, he is the first non-Hindu to occupy the office. Singh is also the 7th Prime Minister belonging to the Indian... (Prime Minister), Pranab Mukherjee Pranab Mukherjee Pranab Kumar Mukherjee is the current Finance Minister of India and leader of the current Lok Sabha.Mukherjee is a senior member of the Cabinet Committees on Economic Affairs, Infrastructure, Parliamentary Affairs, Political Affairs, Prices, Security, Unique Identification Authority of India,... , S. M. Krishna S. M. Krishna Somanahalli Mallaiah Krishna , generally referred to as S. M. Krishna, is the Minister of External Affairs and a member of the Indian Parliament from Karnataka in the Rajya Sabha. He was the Chief Minister of Karnataka from 1999 to 2004 and the Governor of Maharashtra from 2004 to... |
| Nirupama Rao Nirupama Rao Nirupama Menon Rao is a 1973 batch Indian Foreign Service officer who is the current Ambassador of India to the United States of America since August 2011... |
31 July 2009 | 31 July 2011 | S. M. Krishna S. M. Krishna Somanahalli Mallaiah Krishna , generally referred to as S. M. Krishna, is the Minister of External Affairs and a member of the Indian Parliament from Karnataka in the Rajya Sabha. He was the Chief Minister of Karnataka from 1999 to 2004 and the Governor of Maharashtra from 2004 to... |
| Ranjan Mathai Ranjan Mathai Ranjan Mathai is the current Indian Foreign Secretary. He assumed charge on August 1, 2011 with a two year term. Prior to this assignment, he served as the Indian Ambassador to France.-Early life:... |
1 August 2011 | 1 August 2013 | S. M. Krishna S. M. Krishna Somanahalli Mallaiah Krishna , generally referred to as S. M. Krishna, is the Minister of External Affairs and a member of the Indian Parliament from Karnataka in the Rajya Sabha. He was the Chief Minister of Karnataka from 1999 to 2004 and the Governor of Maharashtra from 2004 to... |