KOZHIKODE: The Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode (IIMK), is hosting delegates from Afghanistan and two other countries for its online programme “Immersing with Indian Thoughts”. The four-day training programme is being conducted for the foreign ministry staff of Afghanistan. The other countries to participate in the training programme are Thailand and Maldives.
Day 1 of the programme, on Tuesday, witnessed online participation from 20 delegates from three countries --- Afghanistan (18), Thailand (1) and Maldives (1). They attended the programme virtually from their respective countries. IIMK is conducting the course on behalf of New Delhi’s capacity-building platform, the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme (ITEC).
The participants or the countries for the ITEC programme are selected by the Ministry of External Affairs.
The IIM officials here said, “The Institute conducts many national and international training programmes in the area of leadership and management education.
This also includes conducting training programmes for delegates/participants from public/private sectors from foreign countries, under the aegis of the ITEC programme of the Ministry of External Affairs. IIMK first conducted a programme for ITEC participants in 2019 and has been steadily conducting such events for the MEA, over the years.
The institute issued the statement in wake of media reports that some members of the Taliban regime in Kabul are attending the programme. The institute officials said IIMK has no role whatsoever in the selection of these candidates nor has knowledge of their political affiliations. The E-ITEC programme “Immersing With Indian Thoughts, An India Immersion Program For Cross Sectoral Foreign Delegates” is the latest programme which is being conducted online by the institute from March 14-17, under the aegis of the Ministry of External Affairs, with participants selected by the Union government.