India World Forum

The origin of the Indian Foreign Service can be traced back to the British rule when the Foreign Department was created to conduct business with the “Foreign European Powers”. In fact it was on September 13, 1783, when the Board of Directors of the East India Company passed a resolution at Fort William, Calcutta (now Kolkata), to create a department, which could help “relieve the pressure” on the Warren Hastings administration in conducting its “secret and political business”. Subsequently known as the “Indian Foreign Department”, it went ahead with the expansion of diplomatic representation, wherever necessary, to protect British interests. In 1843, Governor-General Ellenborough carried out administrative reforms under which the Secretariat of the Government was organized under four departments – Foreign, Home, Finance and Military. Each was headed by a Secretary level officer. The foreign department Secretary was entrusted with the “conduct of all correspondence bel...

India and Australia have strong cordial relations and several commonalities, which serve as a foundation for closer India Australia cooperation and multifaceted interaction, on lines similar to what India has developed with other Western countries. India and Australia Both are strong, vibrant, secular and multicultural democracies. They both have a free press and an independent judicial system; the English language is an important link. Cricket, and now the large numbers of Indian students coming to Australia for education, are significant elements in awareness at the popular level. The relationship has grown in strength and importance since India’s economic reforms in the nineties and has made rapid strides in all areas - trade, energy and mining, science & technology, information technology, education and defence. Australia is in India’s extended neighbourhood, a point made by then Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith when he made a key note address in September 2008 a...

On 17 September 1950, India announced recognition of Israel. Soon after India’s recognition of Israel, the Jewish Agency established an immigration office in Bombay. This was soon converted into a Trade Office and later a Consulate. Sporadic governmental contacts continued between India and Israel in the fifties and early sixties, including visits by several Israeli and Indian ministers. Following decision to establish diplomatic relations, Israel opened its Embassy in Delhi in February 1992 and India opened its Embassy in Tel Aviv on 15 May 1992. Since then relations have seen rapid growth across a broad spectrum. Recent important high level visits from India include that of Chief Minister of Punjab Shri Parkash Singh Badal and Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh Shri Prem Kumar Dhumal in November 2009; Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Shri Jyotiraditya Scindia in February 2010; Minister of State (I/C) for Science & Technology Shri Prithviraj Chavan in March 2010; Membe...

India Japan relations have undergone a significant and qualitative shift in recent years, propelled by the successful regular summit level exchanges. From Japan, the then Prime Ministers Koizumi, Abe and Hatoyama visited India in April 2005, August 2007 and December 2009 respectively. From India , Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh visited Japan in December 2006, October 2008 and again in October 2010. India Japan Cordial Relations The establishment of the Strategic and Global Partnership between India & Japan in December 2006 elevated relations to a new level. This Partnership is based on five pillars of cooperation viz., India Japan Political Relations , India Japan Defence and Security Cooperation ; Comprehensive Economic Partnership; Science and Technology Initiative; People-to-People exchanges and cooperation in Regional/Multilateral fora. During the visit of PM Abe to India in August 2007, a Roadmap for New Dimensions to the Strategic and Global Partnership ...