The India International Friendship Society (IIFS) is a prominent – though not the only[1] – voluntary organisation seeking to strengthen the ties between India and the international Indian diaspora (Non-resident Indians and Persons of Indian Origin) in the hopes of utilising their potential for the benefit of the country, and at the same to build bridges of goodwill and amity between India and the rest of the world.[2] This is done principally by organising events in India and abroad, well attended by personages of influence both in and outside the limelight, including the yearly Global Friendship Day banquet in London. A highlight of such events is usually the presentation of awards to persons, both in India and abroad, deemed to have made an outstanding contribution to the aims for which the Society stands; chief among these awards is the Glory of India Award (Hindi: Bhārat Gaurav Sammān) an Indian non-governmental diasporic award. Prominent persons who have been awarded by the IIFS include:[3]
Though a private organisation, the IIFS was founded and is managed by persons prominent in Indian public, business and military life, which bestows its activities prominence[4] and the recipients of its honours prestige.[5] Even overseas indian, the "Official e-zine of Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs", has explicitly remarked on the prestigiousness of the awards of the IIFFS.[6]
This society operates as a networking organisation without a fixed public face. This is in keeping with various important organisations in India, but problematic when it comes to depicting its workings. As is common in Indian public life, authority and import are generated to a large part by the open and public association of prominent persons of public life with the organisation. This association is clearly evident from the documentation (pictures, letters etc.) on the IIFS websites and through the mention in various fora (e.g. newspapers, communiques of official and semi-official bodes etc.),[7] but is in many respects intransparent for persons not conversant with Indian modi operandi.[8]
It is not surprising that, in keeping with the above, the IIFS has also been criticised for not drawing up and publishing clear guidelines for bestowing its awards. Furthermore, its award winning ceremonies are usually combined with a common banquet also attended by prominent persons of India or the respective country; participants are expected to pay for the banquet, the proceeds also going towards the funding of the awards themselves. This has drawn criticism too.
Another criticised aspect is that the IIFS also institutes awards for Indians within India for deeds seemingly not having to do with its self-defined aims.[9]. Chief among these awards is the Rāṣṭrīya Gaurav (Rashtriya Gaurav, i.e. National Glory) Award. However, the fact that important state officials both past and present attend and preside at the award ceremonies[10] relativises this criticism.