Botswana

A total of 119 Batswana will benefit from the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation programme (ITEC) slots.Speaking at the ITEC day and Alumni Website launch on Thursday night in Gaborone, The Indian High Commissioner designate to Botswana, Dr Ketan Shukla said the government of India had allocated 65 civilian slots and 54 defence slots for the year 2015 – 2016. He said ITEC programme has been going on in Botswana for a long time and it is an important bilateral cooperation programme for upgrading technical assistance, technology transfer and capacity building.

 Dr Shukla said he is hopeful that in this 50 th anniversary of India –Botswana diplomatic relations they will be able to bring the participation number from Botswana to 150 defence and civilian slots, stating that the programme has been reflected in the increasing number of participants as it has been offered to more than 150 countries. He said in 2013/14, over 10 000 scholarship slots were offered under the programme in the 47 premier training institutions in India which conducted more than 280 training courses in diverse subjects ranging from information technology to public administration among others.

One of the beneficiaries of the programme, Ms Bantle Sakarea an economist at the Ministry of Agriculture said she went to India for a one month course which she said opened her mind in many levels on the sustainable strategies on agriculture in rural areas.She said though the country has a large population, what amazed her was the respect of culture and religion displayed by the Indians. Another beneficiary, Ms Kgomotso Nyatshane, told the gathering that cultural tourism is the way to go as she witnessed its potential in India where a lot of tourists from afar places come to see some old temples found in India. The event was attended by among others the Minister for Defence, Justice and Security, Mr Shaw Kgathi.