As Prime Minister Narendra Modi sets out on a four-nation African tour next month, the government has decided to share India’s expertise in securing VIPs and vital security installations with these countries. Mr. Modi will embark on a five-day trip to the African countries from July 11-17.
Apart from planning training modules for police and security forces in Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania and South Africa, India is expected to sign memorandums of understanding (MoU) during Mr. Modi’s visit, a senior government official said. India also intends to share its combat training programme and experience in busting narcotics cartels.
“Since India has also been a victim of terror attacks, our experience would come in handy for the African countries as they also suffer from the same set of problems. After the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, several measures were taken to secure our hotels and malls. These measures would be shared with them [African countries],” the official said. India’s elite commando force, the National Security Guards, not only performs combat operations during terrorist attacks but also gives proximity security cover to several VIPs, the official said.
“We are devising a capsule course where police forces from these [African] countries can arrive for an exchange programme here. We can share the expertise we have in securing VIPs and vital installations,” the official said. Kenya and South Africa have a large population of Indian origin people.
The Indian government also plans to sell its success story in containing radicalisation and spread of violent extremism by way of various projects involving community members.
Kenya witnessed one of the worst terror attacks in 2015 when 147 students were killed during an attack at the Garissa University. Terrorist group Al-Shabaab, which is active in the region, took responsibility for the attacks. The same group was involved in the Westgate mall attack when four terrorists stormed the Nairobi establishment and killed 67 people in a siege that lasted four days.
