IFS Day: New Delhi skips celebration; Indian High Commission in Islamabad marks the day by planting a sapling…

Top IFS officer Jaishankar with external affairs minister

ON FRIDAY, official spokesperson of the ministry of external affairs (MEA) Vikas Swarup tweeted a collage of photos with a caption: “A day for the diplomats. It was 69 years ago to this day, that the then Cabinet created the #IndianForeignService”. Yes, the October 9 is the Indian Foreign Service Day, and it’s a day for 600-strong IFS officers posted mainly in about 162 Indian missions located across the world. There was no celebration in New Delhi, but in Islamabad, the Indian…