The Ministry of External Affairs (Hindi :विदेश मंत्रालय) (abbreviated as MEA) also known as the Foreign Ministry is the Government agency responsible for the conduct of India’s relations with foreign countries
Functions
- The Secretary General was the principal official adviser to the Prime Minister on matters relating to foreign policy and was responsible for overall supervision of the Ministry.
- The Foreign Secretary dealt with the American, Western and Eastern Divisions and the West Asian and North African countries of the Southern Division. In addition, s/he was in charge of the Divisions dealing with Protocol, External Publicity, and the Historical Records. His/Her main task was to co-ordinate among the various Divisions in the Ministry.
- The Commonwealth Secretary dealt with all the Commonwealth countries with the exception of Canada which was the responsibility of the Americas Division. S/He was also in charge of the South Asian countries of the Southern Division, and the African Division.
- The Special Secretary was in charge of administration of the Ministry, and posts and missions abroad.
Officials
The Foreign Secretary is the senior most civil servant who is the head of the Department of Foreign Affairs,and is supported by other secretary level officers.
- Foreign Secretary — Subrahmanyam Jaishankar
- Secretary (West) — Navtej Singh Sarna
- Secretary (East) — Anil Wadhwa
- Special Secretary (ER & DPA) — Sujata Mehta
- Additional Secretary — Syed Akbaruddin
- Head- Sushma Swaraj
` Interesting facts
The Ministry of External Affairs was the first government department to have a mobile app for smartphones with the launch of MEAIndia on 29 July 2013 by Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai . The app will help users apply for a passport, get visa information, and learn the location of Indian consulates worldwide
