Shortage of diplomats is affecting India's foreign policy
“There are some 25 diplomatic positions in Missions/Posts abroad currently vacant,” was the response given by Preneet Kaur, the Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs to the ‘Unstarred Question No. 2024’ asked in Lok Sabha on December 05, 2012. Such a scenario is enough to raise eyebrows about India's international standing.
The recent foreign policy failures have pointed out that these vacancies are affecting India's image as an emerging power. This also puts a question mark on India's commitment towards diplomacy and towards hundreds of consulates present worldwide. The recent case of Italian mariners being allowed to go back and the death of prisoner Sarabjit Singh in Pakistan clearly indicate that India’s foreign policies have failed. BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi aptly said, “Government of India should take stern and effective steps in this case. Sarabjit's incident proves that India's diplomatic clout and foreign policy has been totally demolished.”
There is not even a second’s doubt that shortage of diplomats interrupts the smooth flow of information and information to the Ambassadors/High Commissioners thus creating a fissure during important negotiation meetings. Understaffed embassies spell more trouble for Ambassadors than in embassies with no Ambassadors. Back in 2006, the Indian embassy in Qatar faced serious trouble in their daily working due to shortage of staff. The embassy had to be kept closed for several hours everyday in order to manage the high footfall.
After long struggling with Pakistan, now India's border issue with China has become an issue of serious concern. Even though this issue may not be a direct case of shortage of diplomats, but it does indicate the failure of our diplomacy initiatives. Shashi Tharoor, Minister of State for Human Resource Development has been advocating recruitments of experts in the Indian Foreign Service. He has seen the situation first hand when he had served as Minister of State for the Ministry of External Affairs.
There are more diplomats posted in Delhi alone compared to the number of Indian diplomats deployed in the entire world (outside India). Putting this into perspective, there are more people working towards Indian foreign policy than Indian diplomats negotiating with the entire world. Currently, India has only 600 diplomats worldwide, which is comparable to the likes of countries like Belgium and Netherlands, and is nowhere near the strength of US and Chinese diplomats. Even a small nation like Singapore has more diplomats than India.
As an emerging superpower, India needs around 1200 diplomats by 2040, while during the same period, China has estimated a need for around 10,000 diplomats across the globe. With global balance shifting in favour of India, there is an increase in foreign interference.
“There are some 25 diplomatic positions in Missions/Posts abroad currently vacant,” was the response given by Preneet Kaur, the Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs to the ‘Unstarred Question No. 2024’ asked in Lok Sabha on December 05, 2012. Such a scenario is enough to raise eyebrows about India's international standing.
The recent foreign policy failures have pointed out that these vacancies are affecting India's image as an emerging power. This also puts a question mark on India's commitment towards diplomacy and towards hundreds of consulates present worldwide. The recent case of Italian mariners being allowed to go back and the death of prisoner Sarabjit Singh in Pakistan clearly indicate that India’s foreign policies have failed. BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi aptly said, “Government of India should take stern and effective steps in this case. Sarabjit's incident proves that India's diplomatic clout and foreign policy has been totally demolished.”
There is not even a second’s doubt that shortage of diplomats interrupts the smooth flow of information and information to the Ambassadors/High Commissioners thus creating a fissure during important negotiation meetings. Understaffed embassies spell more trouble for Ambassadors than in embassies with no Ambassadors. Back in 2006, the Indian embassy in Qatar faced serious trouble in their daily working due to shortage of staff. The embassy had to be kept closed for several hours everyday in order to manage the high footfall.
After long struggling with Pakistan, now India's border issue with China has become an issue of serious concern. Even though this issue may not be a direct case of shortage of diplomats, but it does indicate the failure of our diplomacy initiatives. Shashi Tharoor, Minister of State for Human Resource Development has been advocating recruitments of experts in the Indian Foreign Service. He has seen the situation first hand when he had served as Minister of State for the Ministry of External Affairs.
There are more diplomats posted in Delhi alone compared to the number of Indian diplomats deployed in the entire world (outside India). Putting this into perspective, there are more people working towards Indian foreign policy than Indian diplomats negotiating with the entire world. Currently, India has only 600 diplomats worldwide, which is comparable to the likes of countries like Belgium and Netherlands, and is nowhere near the strength of US and Chinese diplomats. Even a small nation like Singapore has more diplomats than India.
As an emerging superpower, India needs around 1200 diplomats by 2040, while during the same period, China has estimated a need for around 10,000 diplomats across the globe. With global balance shifting in favour of India, there is an increase in foreign interference.
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