The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) is a central government institution of India responsible for conducting the nation's foreign policy and diplomatic relations. Its administrative head is the Foreign Secretary, who is the senior-most non-elected official, while the Minister of External Affairs is the cabinet member in charge. The MEA's origins trace back to the British Raj's Foreign Department, which was transformed into the Ministry of External Affairs and Commonwealth Relations in September 1946, just before India's independence. It was formally renamed the Ministry of External Affairs in 1948, solving the problem of establishing a sovereign mechanism for managing India's international engagement.
The Ministry works by formulating and implementing foreign policy, negotiating international treaties, and operating over 200 diplomatic missions globally. Key mechanisms include providing consular services, such as passports and visas through the Passport Seva Project (PSP), and administering laws like the Emigration Act of 1983. The MEA is intrinsically connected to the Indian Foreign Service (IFS), which forms its diplomatic cadre, and implements major foreign policy initiatives like the Neighborhood First Policy and the Act East Policy. It also represents India at multilateral forums, including the United Nations. A significant recent change occurred on January 7, 2016, when the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs was integrated into the MEA, consolidating all matters related to the Indian diaspora under its purview.