Introducing Diplomacy as a profession…….
Diplomacy is a complex and often challenging practice of fostering relationships around the world in order to resolve issues and advance interests. Discover the PEOPLE who conduct diplomacy, the PLACES where the diplomat engages in diplomacy, and the ISSUES diplomacy helps resolve.
Practitioners of Diplomacy
Discover diplomats who represent India, what they do and how they do it.
Indian diplomats work all over the world - in India at headquarters and in foreign countries - to advance our foreign policy. The roles of diplomats are varied, but all of them work to protect and serve Indian citizens and Indian interests abroad.
WHO IS A DIPLOMAT?
You might think of a professional diplomat as a man or woman in a pin-striped suit, sitting with other diplomats in an elegant meeting room—negotiating peace, threatening war, or hammering out the terms of a treaty. This is part of what diplomats do, since diplomacy is about managing international relations. Many diplomats do all the things listed above, but they also do much more.
Conducting foreign policy is a complex business. The peace, safety, and prosperity the citizens enjoy are a direct result of the hard work of many skilled professional diplomats and others.
Government diplomats are paid professionals. However every person has opportunities to practice diplomacy in everyday life?
When businesspeople, teachers, scientists, athletes, and musicians share ideas and experiences during visits abroad they represent their country and thus act as citizen diplomats. All of these encounters produce subtle moments of diplomacy—a small exchange of impressions and information about people of other lands.
Most of us will never be an ambassador. But if you travel abroad, or meet a foreign citizen in India, you represent your country, and this makes you a “citizen diplomat.”
Professional Diplomats
The qualities of a diplomat are sleepless tact, unmovable calmness, and a patience that no folly, no provocation, no blunders may shake.
- Benjamin Franklin
WHAT ARE THE ROLES OF A DIPLOMAT?
WHEN DIPLOMATS negotiate a treaty, attend a state dinner, or arrange a visa for a traveler, they all have the same mission—to represent the interests and policies of our country. Beyond that, diplomats’ roles and responsibilities are immensely varied.
An ambassador is the President’s highest-ranking representative to a specific nation or international organization abroad. An effective ambassador has to be a strong leader—a good manager, a resilient negotiator, and a respected representative. A key role of an ambassador is to coordinate the activities not only of the Foreign Service Officers and staff serving under him, but also representatives of other Indian agencies in the country.
Foreign Service Officers are professional, trained diplomats who represent Indian interests abroad under the direction of the ambassador. All Foreign Service Officers listen to and observe what is going on in the host country, analyze it, and report to the ambassador and New Delhi.
HOW DO YOU BECOME A DIPLOMAT?
Diplomats come from many different backgrounds, yet they all work to advance our interests abroad.
To become a diplomat one has to take the Civil Service Exam.
If you make it into the Foreign Service, the next stop is the Foreign Service Institute (FSI). Officer trainees are then sent abroad to learn the Compulsory foreign language of their choosing.
To be successful, one needs to listen well, analyze, problem-solve, and learn how to apply these skills in foreign cultures. Depending on the responsibilities, one might need specialized knowledge. If the job is promoting international trade, for example, one will need to learn about a country’s economy, business practices, and banking system. One also needs to learn the etiquette and customs of your host country and be polite, tactful, and patient.
The Foreign Service is a career like no other. It is much more than a job; it is a uniquely demanding and rewarding way of life.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE A DIPLOMAT?
The Ministry of External Affairs looks for a diverse group of people, with varied backgrounds and experiences, to achieve the foreign policy goals of our country. Foreign Service Officers with different personalities and a wide variety of skills are needed to handle the many kinds of jobs diplomats do.
Most diplomats work far from home, where the culture, food, and language are different. Their number one job is to take care of Indian citizens overseas. But another part of their responsibility is to build good working relationships—even if the leaders or citizens of the host country disagree with our policies. Diplomacy is required to move through these delicate situations!
Do you like to write, speak publicly, work with journalists or engage through social media, or plan informational or cultural programs?
Do you like to manage an operation and solve practical problems dealing with budget, personnel, transportation, or buildings?
Are you curious about how other countries are governed, how we advance our foreign policy, and the processes of negotiations?
Are you interested in business, money, and trade relations?
Are you interested in the law, helping Indian citizens in trouble, and meeting foreign citizens who would like to come to India?
Do you want to help people in other countries obtain clean water, develop sustainable agriculture, or better education or help our people learn from them?
Would you enjoy helping to increase Indian business or agricultural exports?
Find out where around the world the diplomats engage in diplomacy.
Diplomacy is conducted around the world. Trained diplomats work mostly in the Embassies, which are located in the capital cities of foreign countries. They also work in consulates, which are located in big cities, and in countries hosting Missions to international organizations
WHAT ARE THE TOOLS OF DIPLOMACY?
IF you were a diplomat representing India, what tools would you use?
Diplomats negotiate on a vast range of issues, from the uses of outer space and the outcome of wars to the treatment of refugees and the future of the oceans.
Understanding the other countries’ diplomats across the table is an indispensible tool. Those across the table advance the interests of their country, and when they do this they express unique and different beliefs, needs, fears, and intentions.
To be successful, our diplomats must learn the needs, interests, history, and culture of the diplomats across from them, and listen carefully to what their counterparts say.
Generally in negotiations, diplomats use different tools and means to realize rewards—such as the promise of new trade, an arms sale, or shipments of food—to encourage an agreement. When diplomatic interests collide and a deadlock ensues, negotiators might threaten sanctions—such as restricting trade or travel, halting financial assistance, or an embargo—to coerce the other parties to accept an agreement. Diplomats realize that the most lasting outcomes are usually win-win solutions.
The outcomes of these negotiations are usually spelled out through the following instruments:
TREATIES - a formal, written agreement between sovereign states or between states and international organizations.
CONVENTIONS
ALLIANCES among nations are often formed for mutual benefit, and can be multilateral or bilateral
ACCORDS are voluntary agreements that countries enter into instead of a treaty or while they try to work out the terms of a treaty. The Kyoto Accord is an agreement among nations to limit the emissions of greenhouse gases.
Any graduate is eligible to become a Foreign Service Officer. But first, you must pass the Civil Service Exam.