During the Think India Dialogue organised by Network 18 on Monday, Narendra Modi made a revolutionary suggestion: bifurcate the functions of the ministry of external affairs (MEA) into two, with one dealing in diplomacy and the other in trade.

In the 21st century global politics, economic diplomacy has a key role to play. Take for example Indo-China ties, in which economic issues are in the forefront even as conflicting points like the border issues are also routinely discussed.
When the financial crisis hit in 2008, India performed better than most developed countries. A large section of the least developed and developing countries looks at India as a leader in the 21st century.

Now, most of the diplomatic engagement is defined by economic content. Is our diplomacy equipped to handle issues like oil investment in Siberia? How can ONGC Videsh Ltd expand its footprint in Africa and Latin America, where China has made its presence felt in every nook and cranny? When multilateral diplomacy requires special talents, do we have specialised diplomats with skills to deal with such issues and guide India's industry mission in Africa or Latin America?

In many African nations, China is head and shoulders above any country in terms of pushing for infrastructure development. Modern airports and highways are planned, where Chinese engineers and investments are playing a huge role. From the ring side, the Chinese diplomats have been pushing their efforts to make their presence felt and take lead. In such a scenario, why not a specialised trade mission for a country like India? However, in the Indian embassies and high commissions, there are diplomats dealing with such issues. Are they good enough or overburdened with work, as we all know how MEA suffers from staff crunch? As India aims to play a bigger role in the world affairs, creating a separate department dealing with trade diplomacy is an idea whose time might have come.

The issues like successful completion of Doha rounds of trade talks and India’s free trade agreements with many countries can only be tilted in country’s favour, when specialised diplomats work on such issues round the clock. When America puts pressure on India to stop energy imports from Iran, you need a specialised energy expert to advise South Block on how to deal with such a crisis. Over the years, the wings of global diplomacy have spread to cover several areas.

More than three years ago, Daniel Markey, a foreign policy expert based in Washington and fellow at Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), said that the Indian foreign service (IFS) is a right fit for a country like Malaysia, but surely not for a rising power like India. He pointed out in a report titled 'Developing India's Foreign Policy Software' that the foreign ministry establishment might be preventing India from moving up the international power ladder. His report mentioned, “The Indian Foreign Service is small, hobbled by its selection process and inadequate midcareer training, and tends not to make use of outside expertise.”

Even a report prepared by former diplomat SK Lambah a decade ago mentioned that merit and performance should be the main criteria for promotion in the foreign service, and not seniority alone.

Surely, we have not learnt from Markey and Lambah's honest criticism, as we keep failing in our neighbourhood diplomacy as recently we failed in Maldives in the case of GMR’s Male airport project and on the political crisis front. The list is long indeed!