In a first, members of the Taliban regime in Kabul will attend a four-day ‘India immersion’ online course that begins Tuesday and is offered by the Ministry of External Affairs through IIM Kozhikode. The course, titled ‘Immersing with Indian Thoughts, an India Immersion Program’, is designed by the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation, a division of the MEA that executes capacity-building projects in partner countries. Delhi, which has not recognised the Taliban regime, reopened its embassy in Kabul in June 2022 – several other countries too have done that. The ITEC offers several courses each month through different “knowledge partners”. Some are tailor-made for just a single country, others are open for all. The India course that starts March 14 and will go on until March 17 is open to participants from all countries. Other than Afghanistan, delegates from Thailand and Malaysia are also expected to attend the course, The Indian Express has learnt. The course description on the ITEC website says “India’s uniqueness lies in its unity in diversity which makes it seem like a complex space for outsiders. This programme facilitates a deeper understanding of the latent order within the apparent chaos that will help foreign officials and executives gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of India’s business environment”. Participants will learn about India’s “economic environment, regulatory ecosystem, leadership insights, social and historical backdrop, cultural heritage, legal and environmental landscape, consumer mind-sets and business risks”. The course will include video-recorded lectures followed by interactions with IIMK trainers. Participants will learn about India’s rural economy as well as its ancient maritime trade routes. At the end of the course, participants will be given a digital certificate, PDF versions of referral materials, case studies, PPTs, and teaching videos. An online valedictory session will be held on the fourth day, at which an official from MEA will be invited as the chief guest. On Monday evening, the website showed that 25 participants had registered for the course. The Institute of Diplomacy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kabul had issued a circular on February 20, referring to an official note from the Indian Embassy in Kabul dated January 23, inviting the ministry to nominate eligible candidates for the course. The circular, addressed to all departments in the Foreign Ministry, encouraged interested employees with an “excellent command over the English language” to apply for the course. Those who sign up, it said, would be required to write short reports on the subjects discussed and the learning outcomes from the training. These reports would need to be submitted to the institute. An Indian government source said ITEC offers several courses, and these were open to participants from across the world, and there was “nothing specific” to Afghanistan. The Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi did not respond to calls or messages seeking details. However, the Taliban regime’s spokesman in Doha, Suhail Shaheen, said his government had arrangements for such training programmes with other countries. “The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has such arrangements of crash courses with various countries where we have assigned new diplomats,” he said. While India ran a number of training projects for Afghans for nearly two decades after the US ousted the Taliban in 2001, the takeover of Kabul and the country by the fundamentalist militant group in August 2021 brought everything to a halt. The Indian embassy was shut down two days after the Taliban captured Kabul, and all staff and Indians living and working in Afghanistan were evacuated. Delhi has still not recognised the Taliban regime, but reopened its embassy in Kabul in June last year. After the reopening, the Taliban have reached out to Delhi with requests to restart some of the infrastructure development works left unfinished due to the 2021 upheavals. The course at IIM Kozhikode will be the first time that members of the de facto rulers of Afghanistan will undergo training by an Indian institute. Meanwhile, India is yet to issue visas to nearly 3,000 students who had gone home to Afghanistan in the summer of 2021, and found they could not return to their universities and colleges after Delhi cancelled their visas following the Taliban takeover. The Taliban have banned girls and women from studying beyond primary school. "I am shocked to hear about courses for Taliban officials. India has left Afghan students, including women students stranded. They are not offering us even online courses, some of us have received cancellation letters from our universities, some of us have been split from families still living in India,” said Onib Dadagar who has been waiting to return to his PhD course in Mysore University.
