The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has invited applications for an internship programme, scheduled to run from October 2026 to March 2027. Students who are in their final year of college, or have recently graduated and fulfil other eligibility requirements, can apply till September 27 on the official website, internship.mea.gov.in.According to the notice issued by the ministry, the last date to apply for the internship is September 27. Subsequently, the list containing the names of shortlisted candidates will be displayed on October 7.In order to be eligible, candidates are required to be Indian citizens and have completed a bachelor’s degree from a recognised university at the time of applying.Additionally, students in the final year of an undergraduate programme can also apply if an internship is a mandatory component of their final-year curriculum.The notice also specifies age criteria, where candidates are required to be 25 years old or below as of December 31 of the year of the internship.Read | Harvard Executive Education programmes to launch in Hyderabad from DecemberMEA internship stipend detailsSelected interns will receive an honorarium or monthly stipend of Rs 10,000 per month. The ministry will also cover the cost of one round-trip journey by air, subject to the prevailing economy-class airfare ceiling between Delhi and the state capital of the candidate’s domicile state or their college or university.Story continues below this adMEA Internship: What is the selection process?The selection process will be conducted completely online through the MEA internship portal mentioned above. The process mainly consists of two stages — preliminary screening, and a personal interview through videoconferencing.According to the information available on the MEA portal, applicants from 14 states and four Union Territories are considered in each term.For this term, the states and Union Territories covered under the quota are Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Lakshadweep, Puducherry.Also Read | IIT Kanpur offers certificate programme on Python for AI, ML and deep learningStory continues below this adA maximum of 30 candidates will be selected for this term. The number of candidates called for interview is capped at three times the number of interns to be engaged. The ministry follows a quota-cum-weightage system for selecting candidates. Academic performance in Class 12 and graduation is considered for the preliminary screening.Priority will be given to applicants from Transformation of Aspirational Districts Programme (TADP) districts during preliminary screening and to candidates belonging to SC, ST, OBC and EWS categories during the personal interview stage. The policy also provides that a minimum of 30% of the internships may be filled by women candidates.However, selected candidates will have to arrange and bear the cost of their accommodation and meals in Delhi during the entire course of the internship.