World Wide Diplomatic Archives Index: India
Legislation
The mandate of the Archives and access to its holdings are stipulated in the Public Records Act of 1993 and the subsequent Public Records Rules of 1997. Unclassified documents are available for viewing after 30 years. The creating agency of any material is required to review its holdings every five years to assess whether to downgrade classified material to unclassified.
Location
Ministry of External Affairs: Chankyapuri, New Delhi-110021
The National Archives is situated opposite the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts at the Inter-section of Janpath and Rajpath in New Delhi.
Procedures
Researchers must apply to the Director of the Archives for permission to view any holdings. Foreigners need to provide a letter of introduction from their sponsoring institution. For classified material or material under the age of 30 years, researchers should contact the Indian Ministry of External Affairs.