 Fifty years ago, as India, an ancient civilization, constituted herself into a fledgling nation state and ventured forth into the world, she faced unprecedented challenges. It was a bipolar world. The nations of the world were ranged in battle lines dictated by the Cold War. A nuclear holocaust seemed imminent. Empire scabed in, frequently amidst conflict and bloodshed. India was to play a significant role in creating the non-aligned movement. India was not to be deterred. She decided to make her voice heard, to fashion a unique place for herself as for scores of other newly emerging countries. India's diplomacy enabled her to assume a widely recognized, if undeclared role of leadership in what came to be known as the Third World. Not only is this preeminence of India recognized by diplomats everywhere, many of them recommend the Indian Foreign Service as a veritable model. The Indian High Commission in London is, understandably, given the historical association with Britain, one of India's largest overseas missions. In many ways, the High Commission is representative of the structure and functioning of most diplomatic missions. At the same time, the breadth and range of activity it embraces typifies the new challenges Indian diplomacy has to face in the post-Cold War world. Today, diplomacy itself has undergone a sea change over the centuries and over the years. Especially after the Second World War. Today, it is diplomacy from government to government, diplomacy from the department of the government to another department of the government, diplomacy from people to people. Until the late 1980s, economic diplomacy seemed secondary to India's preeminent security and political preoccupations. An archaic economic dispensation at home which emphasized self-sufficiency rather than integration with the global economy meant that Indian diplomats could limit their economic diplomacy to obtaining aid or loans from bilateral and multilateral agencies. The Indian Foreign Service reaches out to foreign investors. It sensitizes them to India's potential as a marketplace, as a storehouse of skilled workforce. Equally, Indian diplomats are now required to scout for new markets for Indian products. Over the last decade, Indian diplomacy has also become more sensitive to the needs as well as the potential of the large community of non-resident Indians. Many of them have become successful businessmen overseas. All of them, without exception, wish to have a stake in the growth and prosperity of the country of their origin. While economics dictates the contemporary diplomatic agenda, security questions can never be neglected. The diplomat must keep his ear to the ground as it were. Pick up any indications, however slight, of attempts by India's adversaries to embarrass her. The counter strategy works at several levels, through political lobbies, through the media, through direct contact with the people affected. An important part of the diplomat's function revolves around the projection of a positive image of India in the eyes of the public at large. The participation of the diplomat's family in these public events is not only desirable, it is often a necessary part of their success. The itinerant nature of his calling may occasionally make great demands on the peace and stability of his family life. The Indian diplomat never allows himself or herself to lose sight of the fact that his primary function is to promote India's partnership with the world, a partnership in development, a partnership in growth and prosperity for both India and the host country.