Paheja Siririka
WINDHOEK - The Foreign Service Institute (FSI) of India in collaboration with the ministry of international relations is embarking on a project to send 20 Namibian diplomats within the ministry on a two-week special course beginning 1 December 2019, to Delhi.
Indian High Commissioner to Namibia Prashant Agrawal said at FSI, the diplomats will learn more about the standard tools of diplomacy such as public speaking, diplomatic protocol, negotiation skills, diplomatic communication, multilateralism, international law and economic diplomacy by eminent experts and practitioners.
“They will get a clear view of the functioning of Indian diplomacy through meetings with senior officials and visits to key institutions,” added Agrawal. Topical issues such as agriculture and food security, International Solar Alliance, United Nation (UN), climate change, and international environmental-related matters will be included in the sessions.
The beneficiaries of the training course who are all MIRCO officers are relatively new in their careers (a few years of service) and were selected by the ministry to undergo the exercise which will be provided by eminent domain experts, serving and retired senior Indian diplomats. “They will benefit from specific training to sharpen further their diplomatic skills,” said Agrawal.
The high commissioner revealed to New Era that all costs incurred are borne by Indian side (airfare, local accommodation, transport, board and lodge, all training fees, site visits and many more as per ITEC norms for the partner countries.
The pieces of training are organised for a large number of partner countries so they have evolved a very good template. “The training has been designed keeping the needs of Namibia in mind in discussion with the international relations ministry,” explained Agrawal.
FSI is India’s premier training institution that has trained diplomats of India and also of a large number of partner countries since 1986. It has a Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation with Namibia’s Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation since 2005.