Commonwealth Office and Foreign and Commonwealth Office: South Asia Department: Registered...

This series contains paper and digital records (including digital 'index cards') created by the South Asia Department of the Commonwealth Office to October 1968 dealing with UK and Commonwealth relations with India, Pakistan and the disputed Kashmir territory, Bhutan, Nepal, and Sikkim, Ceylon (later Sri Lanka) and the Maldive Islands from January 1967. From October 1968, the records are those of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office South Asian Department, whose responsibilities included relations with Afghanistan as well as the above. The Department was responsible for relations with Bangladesh from 1972.

The series includes full-text digital records, as well as references to paper documents which act like digital index cards. These index cards provide certain details about the paper documents such as file reference, document title and date, but for the full text of the document, the paper file must be consulted. Occasionally, errors were made in the former FCO when creating these references to paper documents, meaning that the digital index cards point to paper documents that do not exist.

Arrangement is by former file reference within annual file cycles

References for born-digital records are automatically generated and display a 'Z' after a forward slash, which distinguish them from traditional references allocated to paper and digitised records.

For Asia Economic Department files see FCO 11

For earlier South Asia Department files see DO 196

• Commonwealth Office, South Asia Department, 1967-1968
• Foreign and Commonwealth Office, South Asian Department, 1968-1968

From 1998 Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Topics

International

Asia

The South Asia Department of the Commonwealth Office became the South Asian Department of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in October 1968, with the addition of Afghanistan to its former responsibilities. The Department became responsible for Bangladesh when it achieved independence from Pakistan in 1972. Ceylon changed its name to Sri Lanka in May 1972 when the country adopted a republican constitution.