Author: J N Dixit
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Publisher: Konark
Year: 2005
Language: English
Pages: 328
ISBN/UPC (if available): 812200694-9
Description
Indian Foreign Service: History and challenge is the first book to comprehensively chronicle the evolution of India’s prestigious diplomatic service.
The author, Shri J N Dixit, was a member of the Service for 36 years, ending his career as Foreign Secretary of India and the Head of the Diplomatic Service of the Government of India.
The book traces the origin of the service from the period before independence and brings it up-to-date. Shri Dixit has written the book on the specific suggestion of the Ministry of External Affairs.
It contains, in great detail, an analytical description of the evolution of the Indian foreign Service based on archival material as well as the personal experiences of the author in the Service spread over nearly four decades; a period which spanned the early stages of the Cold War to the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the emergence of radical new trends in international politics.
The author has not only touched upon the history of the Service; he ahs also undertaken an analytical exercise about the challenges the Indian Foreign Service faces at present and could face in the foreseeable future.
Contents
PREFACE
Historical Background
Creation of IFS
Training of Service
Work culture, Political Role
Social dimensions of the Services
From Abstractions to realism
Changes under Indira Gandhi
Dealing with Crises: 1971-1975 and 1979
The World in Transition
Coping with the World in Transition: 1991-2002
The marginalized Service: Gowda to Vajpayee
Decision-making Powers: Political and functional Aspects
IFS, Media and National Politics
The Transformed World: Foreign Policy Challenges
Women in the IFS
Operational Dimensions: Implementing Foreign Policy
Today
APPENDIX 1: Ministry of External Affairs (MEA)
APPENDIX 2: Details of Indian Foreign Service Personnel
INDEX