A series of e-ITEC (Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation) training courses for Sri Lankan Police officials conducted by India commenced on January 27. Due to COVID-19-related travel restrictions, 10 courses are being organised online for the next month, the Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka said in press release yesterday.
The Inaugural Session was attended by Sri Lankan police officers, including Senior DIG Priyantha Weerasooriya and Indian officers from the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D), Ministry of External Affairs, and the High Commission of India in Colombo, the statement read.
BPR&D is the nodal agency for organising these programmes at their various training institutes. The course contents have been tailored to fulfill the requirements of the Sri Lanka Police and designed in a way where Sri Lankan police officers can have a formal interaction with the Indian Police, to share and learn from each other’s experiences. It will enhance policing capabilities of Sri Lankan Police to face modern-day challenges, the press release added.
The programmes would cover topics such as interrogation techniques, human trafficking, investigation of financial frauds, narcotics and psychotropic substances, intelligence and national security, cyber crimes, de-radicalisation, and counter-terrorism. For every course, 25 officers, ranging from ranks of Superintendent of Police, Chief Inspector of Police, Inspector of Police, and Sub-inspector of Police, are being nominated by the Sri Lankan Police, the statement said.
Sri Lankan Police officers, in the past, had been invited for training at the premier police training institutions across India based on the training needs of the Sri Lankan police. During 2018 and 2019, over 200 police and legal officers were trained in India in diverse topics at various institutes. These courses were funded by the Government of India and have been beneficial in the capacity-building of Sri Lankan police, the High Commission stated.