The External Affairs Minister or the Indian Foreign Minister is a position of office at cabinet level within the Government of India. The chief responsibility of the External Affairs Minister is to represent India and its government in the international community. The minister heads the "Ministry of External Affairs." Occasionally, a junior minister designated to the post of Minister of State for External Affairs assists the External Affairs Minister. In some cases, there have been Deputy External Affairs Ministers at a secondary level.
The External Affairs ministry is run by bureaucratic officials from the Indian Foreign Service. The head of this department is the Foreign Secretary. This department is also responsible for international Diplomatic postings. The position of external affairs minister hold significance in the sense that, when this position have been vacant, the Prime Ministers have been the only person to have held additional charge as External Affairs Minister. There have been a number of External Affairs Ministers who later went on to become the Prime Ministers of India.
As of Oct 2006, this position is currently held by Pranab Mukherjee of Indian National Congress Party.
Foreign Ministers of India
Minister of State, External Affairs
Deputy Foreign Ministers of India
Notes
- ^ a b c Ministry of External Affairs Library Website accessed 24 Oct, 2006.
- ^ Rediff.com dated 22 May 2004, accessed 25 October 2006.
- ^ BBC News dated 7 November 2005, accessed 25 October 2006.
- ^ BBC News dated 7 November 2005, accessed 25 October 2006.
- ^ The Hindu dated 25 October 2006, accessed 25 October 2006.
- ^ The Hindu dated 25 October 2006, accessed 25 October 2006.
External links
|
