India to provide skills training to 80 stranded Afghan military cadets

India to provide skills training to 80 stranded Afghan military cadets

Eighty Afghan cadets who are stranded in India can heave a collective sigh of relief. The Indian government has offered these cadets, who studied at various military academies in India, a 12-month training programme in effective English communication for business and office purposes.

The Embassy of Afghanistan gave details of the proposal in a press statement on Friday. The training programme is part of the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) initiative that seeks to provide technical assistance to neighbouring countries and their citizens.

The training programme will commence from February 7 and the cadets will be placed at three different institutes and be provided accommodation and a monthly allowance.

The embassy lauded the “generous move” of the Indian government. The Embassy of Afghanistan remains open, but does not have funds from the Taliban regime.

Ever since the return of the Taliban, there has been much concern and uncertainty about the future of Afghan military personnel who were sent for training in India. According to The Times of India, there were 83 Afghan cadets training at the Indian Military Academy when the Taliban took over last August; 40 cadets graduated from the IMA in December.

The Times of India reported in December around 700 Afghan military officers, soldiers and cadets were stranded in India when the Taliban took over. In addition to the IMA, Afghan personnel had been trained at “… Officers’ Training Academy at Chennai and National Defence Academy at Khadakvasla… Army War College and Infantry School at Mhow, School of Artillery at Deolali and College of Military Engineering at Pune,” The Times of India reported.

The Indian Army had been providing these Afghans counselling and also assisting them to leave for third countries. The MEA had extended their visas. Afghan personnel who wanted to return to Kabul were also helped to go back.

The Times of India reported in December, “The Army has also taken up the case with the MEA for absorption of some Afghan personnel, who want to stay back in India after completion of their military courses, in graduate and post-graduate courses under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme and Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) scholarships.”

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