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Indian Army Trains 200 Nigerian Army Personnel In Guerrilla Warfare

A four-member team of the Indian Army conducted a three-month-long training camp on guerrilla warfare in Nigeria for 200 Nigerian Army personnel this year, said officials on Sunday.

The Indian Army officials said four members of its mobile training team (IA-MTT) conducted counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations training for 200 soldiers of the Nigerian Army’s infantry and special forces. They said this training was conducted between January 22 and April 18 at the Nigerian Army School of Infantry (NASI).

The team trained and oriented the Nigerian Army soldiers on nuances of guerrilla warfare with special emphasis on small team operations to deal with non-state actors, they mentioned. The efforts of the Indian Army’s team were appreciated and complimented by the Vice Chief of the Nigerian Army, who is also Chief of Operations and Chief of Training. 

INDIA-NIGERIA DEFENCE RELATIONS

The Defence Cooperation between the Armed Forces of India and Nigeria has been nurtured over a period of time and military interactions began right earnest after Nigeria’s independence in 1960. India helped set up various military institutions including the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) at Kaduna, the Naval College at Port Harcourt besides other elite military training establishments in Nigeria. Several Nigerian officers have also been trained over the years in Indian military institutions. These include former Nigerian Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Ibrahim Babangida and several other top military officers. The incumbent President Muhammudu Buhari also attended the prestigious Defence Services Staff Course (DSSC) at Wellington in 1970s.

After signing of a bilateral MoU on Defence Cooperation in October 2007, visits at high-level took place and bilateral interaction for defence cooperation has increased over the years. The Armed forces of both the nations have attended military training together, exchange programmes and served in UN Peace Keeping Operations. These exchanges have assisted in strengthening cooperation not only within the Armed forces but also between both the countries. Defence Cooperation is an integral to the strategic partnership between India and Nigeria.

Among the areas of cooperation include counter terrorism and counter-intelligence (CT/CI), sea piracy and exchange of visits between training institutes. The first meeting of the Joint Defence Coordination Committee (JDCC) was held in New Delhi in April 2013. The fifth JDCC was held in New Delhi from 17-18 January 2019.  The JDCC explores avenues to enhance the bilateral Defence Cooperation.

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PTI

Kartik Sud

I am working as a News Author With the DefenceXP network, Observing LOC and LAC

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