Ministry of External Affairs (India)
The Ministry of External Affairs of India is the government agency responsible for implementing Indian foreign policy. The Ministry of External Affairs is headed by the Minister of External Affairs, a Cabinet Minister. The Foreign Secretary, an Indian Foreign Service officer, is the most senior civil servant who is the head of the Department of Foreign Affairs. The Ministry represents the Government of India through embassies and is also responsible for India's representation at the United Nations and other international organizations and expanding and safeguarding India's influence and Indian interests across the world by providing developmental aid to other countries worth billions of dollars. It also advises other Ministries and State Governments on foreign governments and institutions.
South Block, Secretariat Building, New Delhi
Foreign relations of India
India, officially the Republic of India, has full diplomatic relations with 201 states, including Palestine, the Holy See, and Niue. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) is the government agency responsible for the conduct of foreign relations of India. With the world's third largest military expenditure, second largest armed force, fifth largest economy by GDP nominal rates and third largest economy in terms of purchasing power parity, India is a prominent regional power and a rising superpower.
Jawaharlal Nehru, the 1st Prime Minister of India, addressing the United Nations (1948)
Pranab Mukherjee, the former Finance Minister of India and former President of India with former US President George W. Bush in 2008.
The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh at the opening ceremony of third Summit of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), at Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar on March 04, 2014
India has often represented the interests of developing countries on various international platforms. Shown here are Vladimir Putin, Narendra Modi, Dilma Rousseff, Xi Jinping, and Jacob Zuma, 2014.