New Delhi: Following a series of appointments last month, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) now includes a total of seven IFS officers, compared to the usual three or four. This comes at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s thrust on foreign policy has made the role of diplomats crucial in the system, ThePrint has learnt.
In an order dated 24 November, the PMO inducted three new IFS officers and extended the tenure of another currently serving in the rank of joint secretary.
Speaking to ThePrint, a senior IFS officer who has served in Modi’s PMO said, “In Manmohan Singh’s PMO, there were five IFS officers too. So this is nothing new. But this government’s involvement in foreign policy has increased manifold. Add to it the country hosting the coming G20 summit, and the appointment of more IFS officers in the PMO only seems logical.” He added, however, that the number of foreign service officers in the PMO isn’t a measure of the importance given to foreign policy.
However, sources in the government said the number of IFS officers in the PMO may come down to five as two of the officers, who are on deputation, may go back to the Ministry of External Affairs.
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New inductees
Of the PMO’s three inductees, Deepak Mittal, a 1998-batch officer, has been appointed as an officer on special duty (OSD) while the tenure of Rudra Gaurav Shresth, of the 1999 batch, has been extended for a period of two months beyond February 2023. Mittal may replace Shresth later, ThePrint has learnt.
Vipin Kumar, a 2013-batch officer, has been appointed deputy secretary, while Nidhi Tewari of the 2014 batch has been made an under secretary in the PMO.
The PMO already has four IFS officers currently on deputation – Rudra Gaurav Shresth, a joint secretary; Vivek Kumar, private secretary to PM Modi; and director-rank officers Yadav Manharsinh Laxmanbhai, and Shweta Singh.
Vivek Kumar is one of the PM’s two private secretaries alongside Hardik Satishchandra Shah, an IAS officer of the Gujarat cadre. “There has been an unsaid rule for years that the PM will have two private secretaries: An IFS officer and an IAS officer,” added the senior IFS officer quoted above.
Speaking to ThePrint, Syed Akbaruddin, a 1985-batch IFS officer who retired as India’s permanent representative to the UN, said, “Traditionally, the PMO has three to four IFS officers…However, given the current thrust on foreign policy and international affairs, and India assuming the G20 presidency, the PMO might have decided to induct more foreign service officers.”
PM’s focus on foreign policy
Modi’s address at the UNGA and his speech at Madison Square Garden in New York in September 2014 were an indication of his thrust on foreign policy. Continuing with this focus, Modi inducted former foreign secretary S. Jaishankar, who retired from the service in 2018, into his Cabinet as the minister of external affairs in 2019.
In the past eight years, India has hosted then US president Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. The country hosted the BRICS summit in 2021, and has now assumed the G20 presidency this year.
India holds the presidency of the G20 from 1 December this year to 30 November, 2023. Forty-three heads of delegations, the largest-ever in the G20, will be participating in the New Delhi summit in September next year.
India will also be hosting the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in 2023.
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)
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