Soldiers from other countries are trained in India at Mizoram for quite some time now.
Dozen nations seek guerrilla warfare training in India
Dozen nations seek guerrilla warfare training in India
Last Updated(Beijing Time):2004-08-22 15:12
France and Italy are the latest among a dozen nations that have sought India's help to train their soldiers in counter-insurgency operations at an elite facility located in Mizoram state in northeast India, the Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) reported Saturday.
A group of US commandos was the last batch of foreign soldiers who in April completed a rigorous three-week anti-insurgency combat course with Indian anti-terror experts in the Counter Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School (CIJWS) at Vairengte in Mizoram.
Britain recently sought the services of experts from CIJWS to set up a similar institute in that country, a CIJWS official said.
France, Uzbekistan, Italy and some African countries have made queries and expressed their desire to train their soldiers at Vairengte this year, a senior official at CIJWS told IANS on telephone, requesting anonymity.
"The normal schedule is about six weeks, during which a soldierundergoes strenuous drills that make him conversant with the finernuances of guerrilla warfare and low-intensity conflicts," the official said.
Established in 1970, the school at Vairengte is considered one of the world's most prestigious anti-terrorist institutions.
In 2001, New Delhi opened the school at Vairengte to foreign soldiers, with three US Army officers being the first overseas batch to be trained there. Expert instructors have also trained soldiers from Nepal and Nigeria, besides the United States and a few other countries.
India's northeast is home to about 30-odd rebel armies with demands ranging from secession to greater autonomy and the right to self-determination.
The CIJWS was set up after Indian soldiers suffered heavy casualties at the hands of northeastern rebels who are adept in hit-and-run guerrilla strikes.
Over 50,000 persons have lost their lives to insurgency in the northeast since India's independence in 1947.