A four-day course on “Immersing with Indian thoughts” is being provided by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), in which several international delegates will participate. Taliban members will also participate in the training, which will be led by the Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode.
The invitation from the External Affairs Ministry to the Taliban, who took back control of Afghanistan in 2021, is seen as a move by India to communicate with the organization without endorsing the government.
According to the course summary, India’s uniqueness lies in its unity in diversity, which makes it look like a complicated place to outsiders. This program helps foreign officials and executives better understand and appreciate India’s business environment by facilitating a deeper grasp of the latent order within the apparent chaos.
The #eITEC course on Immersing with Indian Thoughts: An Indian Immersion Program for Cross Sectoral Foreign Delegates will provide a deeper understanding of India's business environment, cultural heritage, and regulatory ecosystem to participants. pic.twitter.com/hAliPos8RH
— ITEC (@ITECnetwork) March 13, 2023
About the Course
The course, which begins today, will give attendees a chance to experience India’s economic environment, cultural heritage, societal context, and more.
According to the course description, the training gives participants a chance to experience and learn about India’s business risks, consumer mindsets, societal and historical context, cultural heritage, legal system, and regulatory ecosystem.
The course will have up to 30 participants, including a blend of government officials, company executives, business leaders, and entrepreneurs. Throughout these four days, sessions on leadership insights into Indian thought, social and historical evaluations of India, and the depth of cultural heritage will be conducted.
Does India recognize the Taliban regime?
A circular published in Dari by the Institute of Diplomacy, Afghanistan, made it revealed that members of the Taliban foreign ministry are eligible to participate in the program. Social media users shared the circular widely. It made people wonder whether the Indian government had changed its mind and is now willing to recognize the Afghan Taliban regime.
Officials have clarified that the invitation does not signify a shift in New Delhi’s policy on the situation in Kabul. It moreover stated that The IIM is conducting the entire training online. It is not that anyone will be traveling to India for it. The people observed that even after the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in the middle of 2021, ITEC programs for Afghanistan, which have helped thousands of people over the years, continued.
After the Taliban took control in July 2022, India sent what it referred to as a “technical team” to reopen its embassy in Kabul. This was done, according to the Ministry of External Affairs, to “closely monitor and coordinate” humanitarian assistance.
MEA will provide training to the officers
The Indian embassy announced that the IIM would host a “short-term online training program for the members of the ministry of foreign affairs” through a note verbale or unsigned diplomatic correspondence, according to the letter written in Dari issued by Mufti Nurullah Azzam, who is a director general of the Institute of Diplomacy under the Taliban foreign ministry.
An English translation of the letter, which was distributed to all internal and provincial offices of the Taliban foreign ministry, states that the training program’s focus is “Immersing with India Thoughts.” The letter moreover mentioned that after the completion of the program, each participant must submit a brief report to the Institute of Diploma on the subjects and their learning.
