India's ITEC Alumni in Colombia Become Ambassadors of Their Own
Ambassador Dr. Vinod Bahade sat down with a group of Colombian alumni of India's Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme (ITEC), inviting them to stay involved with the Embassy and help spread the word about a scheme most Colombians have likely never heard of.
The alumni, who completed specialised courses in India under the programme, shared feedback and reflections from their time there. Bahade encouraged them to remain engaged with embassy events and to serve, as he put it, as a bridge between the two countries.
The gathering comes just a week before ITEC itself turns 62. Launched on 15 September 1964 under Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri and rooted in Jawaharlal Nehru's vision of foreign policy built on mutual concern and inter-dependence, the fully funded programme has since spent over USD 2 billion training professionals from 161 countries across Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. Courses today range from public administration and entrepreneurship to newer fields like artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, delivered through 47 empanelled Indian institutions offering more than 280 training programmes a year.
For Colombia, ITEC alumni offer something diplomacy alone rarely can: a growing network of professionals who have experienced India firsthand, rather than through headlines or embassy statements, and who can vouch for it in their own words.
The alumni, who completed specialised courses in India under the programme, shared feedback and reflections from their time there. Bahade encouraged them to remain engaged with embassy events and to serve, as he put it, as a bridge between the two countries.
The gathering comes just a week before ITEC itself turns 62. Launched on 15 September 1964 under Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri and rooted in Jawaharlal Nehru's vision of foreign policy built on mutual concern and inter-dependence, the fully funded programme has since spent over USD 2 billion training professionals from 161 countries across Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. Courses today range from public administration and entrepreneurship to newer fields like artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, delivered through 47 empanelled Indian institutions offering more than 280 training programmes a year.
For Colombia, ITEC alumni offer something diplomacy alone rarely can: a growing network of professionals who have experienced India firsthand, rather than through headlines or embassy statements, and who can vouch for it in their own words.