The foreign secretary is the administrative head of the
Ministry of External Affairs, and is the principal adviser to the
minister of external affairs on all matters of policy and administration within the ministry. The role of the foreign secretary is as follows: • To act as the administrative head of the
Ministry of External Affairs. The responsibility in this regard is complete and undivided. • To act as the chief adviser to the
minister of external affairs on all aspects of policy and administrative affairs. • To represent the
Ministry of External Affairs before the
Public Accounts Committee of the
Parliament of India. • Recommends postings of officers under the
Ministry of External Affairs of the rank of
secretary,
additional secretary and
joint secretary to the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC). • To act as the
first among equals among the
secretaries in the
Ministry of External Affairs. == Emolument, accommodation and perquisites ==