Indian Foreign Service (IFS) Day celebrates on October 9

October 9 is celebrated as Indian Foreign Service Day. On 9 October 1946, the Indian government established the Indian Foreign Service for India’s diplomatic, consular and commercial representation overseas. Indian Foreign Service (IFS) will grow from strength to strength in the coming years and will help advance India’s interests globally, said External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar as he greeted the members of foreign service on the IFS Day 2022. The history of the Service and this day goes back to September 1946, when, on the eve of India’s Independence, the Government of India decided to create a service called the Indian Foreign Service for India’s diplomatic, consular and commercial representation overseas.

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According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the origin of the Indian Foreign Service can be traced back to British rule when the Foreign Department was created to conduct business with the “Foreign European Powers”. Subsequently known as the “Indian Foreign Department”, it went ahead with the expansion of diplomatic representation, wherever necessary, to protect British interests, the MEA said.

Indian Foreign Service Day 2022: History of the day

In 1947, there was a near seamless transformation of the Foreign and Political department of the British India government into what then became the new Ministry of External Affairs and Commonwealth Relations, and in 1948, the first batch recruited under the combined Civil Service Examination system of the Union Public Service Commission joined the service. This system of entry has remained the staple mode of intake into the Indian Foreign Service to this day.

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