UPSC Expert Talk | What it means to be an IFS or Indian diplomat, tells former Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan

Would you be willing to represent India’s interests abroad? As elitist as it might sound, the role of the Indian Foreign Service does more than the on-screen portrayals of Indian diplomats. IFS is not just about protocols, it focuses on substantive issues and has the privilege to be a part of historical developments in Indian foreign relations. So, what is the role of an IFS in representing our country, and how is the life of an Indian diplomat?

T.C.A. Raghavan, former Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan, tells Manas Srivastava of The Indian Express what it means to be in the Indian Foreign Service — its challenges, opportunities, and experiences.

Manas: How will you define the life of an Indian Foreign Service officer?

T.C.A Raghavan: An IFS officer spends long periods of his/her tenure away from home in our embassies in different countries. There are also periods of service when officers are posted in the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi, India. The core aspect of the life of an IFS officer is that he or she acts as a bridge between India and the outside world — protecting and promoting the interests of our nation.

Manas: What are the qualities and values that are expected from a Indian Foreign Service officer?

T.C.A Raghavan: The qualities and values expected from an IFS are the same as those from any civil servant or anyone working in a large organisation. Being a team player and subordinating your personal interests for the larger interest of the organisation and country is essential.

Specifically for the IFS, having a sense of curiosity and interest in third country environments, apart from the environment you are familiar with, is necessary. One must not just undertake his or her job and role mechanically.

An IFS officer will often get posted to a country or culture which he or she is unfamiliar with or has limited familiarity. Trying to understand a new culture, and seeing your own country and culture from different perspectives, is not only an essential part of the job but also enhances the performance of the IFS.

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You must know that in IFS much more do than in other services, there are often long periods of your career where you may not have a huge amount of routine work or day-to-day work. The idea is to create opportunities by having the right kind of aptitude. By so doing you develop and create new opportunities for the country.

For example, you may be posted in a country where there is not much trade with India. So the challenge will be how do you develop new opportunities. There can be countries where there is not much political interaction. In such a situation, how do you create opportunities and avenues where your leader and the leader of that country can have fruitful interactions? This is a challenge both professionally and personally. Having the capacity to develop potential for the country and being able to see what are your responsibilities are beyond the routine is what an IFS officer should be ready for.

Manas: Indian Foreign Service is sometimes seen as a royal service. Is it true?

T.C.A Raghavan: I don’t think it is seen or should be seen as a royal service. It is customary for people to talk about the ‘good old days’. But when you go into the details, the old days were never great. Our predecessors’s had tenures much more difficult than ours. People in foreign service today have an easier time than for instance I had.This is because conditions have improved. However, there were different challenges then and there are different challenges now. Professionally, it is much easier to perform your duties today because the perception and image of India has changed globally, especially in the past 20 years due to many reasons, including our economic growth. This makes a big difference in the functioning of a foreign services officer. 

Manas: What is the role of Indian Foreign Service in making our country in comparision to IAS or IPS which has a big role to play in daily lives?

T.C.A Raghavan: Whether you think foreign policy is a part of your daily life or not, the fact is that we are a part of the international economy and of the global community. So how we connect to the outside world is as important as our domestic development. The days when only domestic issues mattered have never existed. Due to globalisation and other factors, what happens in the outside world now has a more direct impact on India in all spheres – economically, socially, politically, culturally etc. Therefore, the IFS is as important as any other service.

Manas: Some of the most important areas in which a foreign services officer deals are national security, economic, political interest etc. Which one do you think is one of the most important?

T.C.A Raghavan: Each area is equally important. I don’t think we can give importance to any one issue over the other. There is a tendency to give importance to security and political issues, but that is a short-sighted view. Security may be more important in the short term but one of the best ways of enhancing your security is also by focussing on culture. In the end, you establish better relations not only by strengthening security alone but also by strengthening your political standing, cultural cooperation etc.

In the Ministry of External Affairs, by and large, each sector is given as much importance as the other. Our job also values creativity. The cultural sector is much more creative than the security and political domain. There is much more you can do there.

I see a trend towards greater securitisation in our national discourse which is not necessarily a healthy trend.For example, in on-screen portrayals of Indian diplomats there is often much greater stress given to security or political issues in which a foreign service officer is involved. That is what we call excessive securitisation.

Manas: Can you recall any memorable episode from your diplomatic career that you would like to share? 

T.C.A Raghavan: Often foreign service officers have the privilege to witness and be a part of landmark developments in Indian foreign relations. Even as such events are taking place, one knows that they will go into the pages of history. The one that I can remember is when PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee visited Islamabad in 2004 for the SAARC Summit. People all over the world recognised it as a remarkable act of statesmanship and of major political courage. I realised then that this was history being made in front of my eyes.

Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the other Heads of Governments of SAARC Countries at the 12th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit in Islamabad, Pakistan on January 4, 2004 (Wikimedia Commons)

I want to point out here that our role as foreign diplomats is not individually important. We work in a team towards a common goal. So, when a team works as a single unit and delivers as per expectations, that is the greatest takeaway or reward for you personally. That is what an IFS believes in too.

Manas: What are the challenges that an IFS officer has to deal with?

T.C.A Raghavan: Indian society is today facing many challenges. How to maintain social harmony and cohesion, the challenges of unemployment, economic development etc. are a few. All civil servants are is expected to find solutions to such problems, and that is their challenge too. An IFS officer has to deal with similar challenges.

For our foreign policy the central challenge has been more or less the same since 1947 – how do you create an external environment conducive to our domestic development? A IFS officer has to constantly think about how he or she can contribute to creating such an external environment.

Apart from this, I believe that the real challenge for the foreign service is how it manages the country’s relations with its neighbours. Our relationships with our neighbouring countries is a central factor in determining the future of India. So I have always prioritised it as the foremost challenge.

Manas: Does the current examination pattern need a change to select specialists or candidates with IR backgrounds for the Indian Foreign Service? 

T.C.A Raghavan: India has the advantage of selecting IFS officers from a huge reservoir of talent; supply is way more than the demand. There is so much talent in our country that we get a very high quality of candidates after a rigorous examination process. One does not need a background in IR but a level of interest in the outside world, their cultures, history, society, economy is vital. Filling the knowledge gap is not difficult, the real X factor is always interest, and that interest has to come from within. Curiosity about the world is therefore a prerequisite, knowledge can always be provided during the training period and can even come later.

Of course, people who are chosen for Indian Foreign Services should have at least good verbal and oral skills and they must keep polishing these attributes.

Manas: Aspirants often ask why there are so few seats in Foreign Services offered in the UPSC exam.

T.C.A Raghavan: In comparison to the previous years, the number of seats has increased now. Some may say that it has increased too much. One must understand that the size of the IFS has to be proportionate to our overall global presence and the country’s requirements. If you expand too much and too quickly officers may face stagnation later in their careers. The government therefore also has to keep in mind the promotions prospects and motivation levels and should not increase the number of seats irrationally. 

Manas: Your advice and recommendation for aspirants and UPSC Essentials subscribers…

T.C.A Raghavan: I hear a narrative among aspirants that if one has to qualify for the UPSC exam, they must go to a coaching institute. This is a myth. This false narrative is created by a huge and unregulated coaching industry which instills in the minds of young aspirants that coaching institutes will alone guarantee their success.

My advice is that students who are aspiring to join the civil services should read widely and certainly not minimise the importance of reading newspapers. One cannot just rely on exam material, help books, whatsapp forward messages, Wikipedia, and such. Aspirants must be fully engaged with their environment, have a sense of curiosity, and read knowledge-enriching quality books and not just prepare mechanically. Reading the study materials as per the syllabus may be a necessary condition to prepare for this exam but it is not a sufficient condition.

For your answers, queries and suggestions write at manas.srivastava@indianexpress.com

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