A series of e-ITEC (Indian Technical and Economic Copperation) training courses for Sri Lankan Police officials conducted by India commenced on 27 January 2021. Due to COVID-19 related travel restrictions, a total of ten courses are being organized online in next one month. The Inaugural Session was prominently attended by Sri Lankan police officers including Senior DIG Mr Priyantha Weerasooriya and Indian officers from the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D), Ministry of External Affairs and High Commission of India, Colombo.
BPR&D is the nodal agency for organising these programs at their various training institutes. Pertinently, the course contents have been tailored to fulfil the requirements of Sri Lankan 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 the modern days’ challenges. Importantly, programs would cover topics such as interrogation techniques, human trafficking, investigation of financial frauds, narcotics and psychotropic substances, intelligence and national security workshop, 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 Sri Lankan Police.
It may also be mentioned that Sri Lankan Police officers, in past, had been invited for training in 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 fully funded by the Government of India and have been beneficial in capacity building of Sri Lankan police. India also benefits from such interaction and experience sharing with the Sri Lankan police.