Paid Legal Internship Opportunity at Ministry of External Affairs 2026 [Stipend Rs 10,000; 30 Seats]: Apply by Mar 4

About MEA Internship Program

Ministry of External Affairs is launching the second edition of the MEA Internships Programme for the year 2023-24. The second edition of the programme is aimed towards continuing the aim of the Ministry to bring in more focus on MEA to provide value to the interns; to ensure better gender inclusivity and to increase diversity in terms of qualifications, domicile and socio-economic status amongst the cohort of interns engaged by the Ministry.

Eligibility

Internships at MEA headquarters shall generally be open to Indian citizens with a minimum educational qualification of a graduate degree from a recognized university or who are in their final year of the undergraduate programme, where an internship is a mandatory part of their final year curriculum.

The age of the candidate should not exceed 25 years as on 31 December of the year of internship.

Duration

Every year, internships will be offered in two terms of six months each viz. April to September and October to March. A maximum of 30 interns will be engaged by the Ministry during each term. Each intern will be engaged for a minimum period of one month and a maximum period of three months.

Vacancy

The Ministry will engage a maximum of 30 interns during each time. 

Location

Delhi

Selection

• The selection process will be entirely online at www.internship.mea.gov.in with applications, scrutiny, selection, allocation of Division, notification, extension and certification to be managed on a dedicated internship portal of the Ministry. Each candidate needs to register on the internship portal and obtain access credentials to participate in the process.
• The selection process will consist of two stages viz. Preliminary Screening and Personal Interview. The process will follow a ‘quota cum weightage’ system whereby applicants belonging to 14 States and 4 Union Territories will be considered in each term as per the table below:

• As per the above table, in each term, there may be 26 interns from the 14 states put together, 02 interns from the 4 Union Territories put together and 02 more interns with maximum marks from TADP districts / underprivileged sections of the society. 
• A minimum of 30% may be filled by women candidates. Weightage will be based on academic performance assessed by the percentage of marks obtained in +2 and graduation exams. 
• Candidates should apply online only. State-wise merit lists will be prepared separately for male and female candidates – by elimination based on academic performance in   +2 and graduation exams. Priority will be given to applicants from TADP districts during the Preliminary Screening stage and to applicants belonging to SC/ST/OBC/EWS categories in the Personal Interview stage.
• The total number of candidates called for interviews will be three times the number of interns to be engaged in each term. Candidates selected in the merit lists will be called for a personal interview to be conducted by videoconferencing. A maximum of 30 candidates will be selected from the interview process and offered internships. If any selected candidate opts out, the next candidate in the merit list from the individual state will be offered the opportunity. 
• During the course of the internship, the selected candidates would be introduced to various aspects of the functioning of the Ministry, its attached offices, the public interface of the Ministry and its role in helping the Indian citizens.

Last Date to Apply

04 March 2026, 5 PM (Extended from 25th Feb) 

Stipend

An honorarium of INR 10,000 per month will be paid to each intern to defray basic costs. Cost of one-time to and fro air travel subject to a ceiling of the prevailing economy class air fare between the State capital and Delhi, from the domicile State or from the college / university of the selected candidates will be provided. The interns would be responsible for their board and lodging in Delhi during the period of their internship.

Application Procedure

Click here to Apply.