INDIA TO DOUBLE DIPLOMATIC CORPS AS ITS GLOBAL ASPIRATIONS EXPAND

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India plans to double the size of its diplomatic corps within five years, reflecting both the country's aspirations to play a leading role in global affairs and a sharp increase in the intensity of its engagement with the world beyond its borders.

“We intend to double the size of the foreign service, because given our engagement with the world we're really running the show on the cheap,” said Navtej Sarna, spokesman for the Ministry of External Affairs.

Shiv Shankar Menon, the foreign secretary, recently told parliament that for every Indian diplomat there are four Brazilian ones and seven Chinese ones. “The strain is telling on us,” he said.

Foreign diplomats based in New Delhi, often frustrated with Indian bureaucracy, have welcomed the move, but cautioned that the ministry is unlikely to change overnight.

“There is a way of working here that means that key decisions tend to be made much closer to the wire than other countries are used to,” said one western diplomat. “They have some effective people, but suffer from an obvious lack of capacity.”

The preoccupation of senior MEA officials with a ground-breaking civil nuclear co-operation agreement with the US has been causing irritation in embassies across New Delhi. “If you're not the US, forget it,” said another western diplomat.

Mr Menon, 57, a former Indian High Commissioner in Pakistan whose appointment has been challenged by a number of bureaucrats senior to him, is the driving force behind the initiative.

Government-wide staff cuts have affected the MEA, which has seen its headcount shrink to 4,746 from 4,866 over a decade in spite of the sharp increase in international engagements.

Of these, about 600 are members of the Indian Foreign Service, which recruits around 15-20 a year from top candidates for jobs across the sprawling public sector.


印度计划在5年内将其外交使团规模扩大1倍，这既反映出该国打算在全球事务中扮演主要角色的渴望，也反映出印度与外部世界往来锐增的现实。

印度外交部发言人纳夫特•萨尔纳(Navtej Sarna)表示：“鉴于目前我们与世界各国的往来，我们的人手确实不足，因此我们打算将外交公务员的规模扩大1倍。”

印度外交秘书希夫香卡尔•梅农(Shiv Shankar Menon)最近向国会表示，巴西和中国外交官的数量分别是印度的4倍和7倍。他表示：“我们承受的压力非常明显。”

驻新德里的各国外交官员往往对印度的官僚行政体系感到失望。他们对此举表示欢迎，但同时告诫称，印度外交部不可能在一夜之间发生改变。

“印度外交部的运作机制意味着，与其它国家的习惯做法相比，关键决策往往由更加高层的官员拍板，”一位西方外交官表示，“他们有一些行事高效的人，但数量明显不够。”

印度外交部高级官员一心要与美国签订一项具有开创意义的民用核设施合作协议，这使驻新德里的各国使馆感到愤怒。另一位西方外交官表示：“如果你不是美国，那就休想。”

梅农是这一举措背后的推动力量。现年57岁的梅农曾任印度驻巴基斯坦高级专员，他的外交秘书任命遭到多名职位高于他的官员的挑战。

印度政府全面裁员已经影响到印度外交部。尽管印度的国际往来锐增，但印度外交部人员数目在10年间从4866人缩减为4746人。

其中，大约600人隶属印度外事服务处(Indian Foreign Service)。该机构每年从希望进入不断扩张的公共部门的优秀候选人中聘用15至20人。