Course for officers of friendly nations begins at naval

college Panaji/New Delhi, Aug 16 (PTI) In a first, a specialcourse for officers of the rank of Colonel and equivalent ofmaritime security agencies from friendly countries in theimmediate neighbourhood today began at the Naval War Collegein Goa, a sign of increasing defence diplomacy. Defence sources said the plan is to eventually have itfor countries in the larger neighbourhood — the Asia-Pacificregion. Officers from Bangladesh, Myanmar, the Maldives, Oman andSri Lanka have arrived to attend the course. The participantfrom Indonesia is also likely to join by end of this week. The eight-week Regional Maritime Security Course (RMSC)includes international relations theory, internationalmaritime law, UNCLOS, energy and natural resources security,maritime domain awareness, Indian Ocean studies as well as atable top humanitarian assistance and disaster relief/out ofarea contingency exercise. "The conduct of the maiden RMSC is considered to be ashot in the arm for naval cooperation initiatives, and wouldenable better understanding between regional navies at theoperational level," the navy said in a statement. The course would provide a concrete forum for developingcommon understanding of regional maritime security issues,disseminate Indian Navy’s perspective on the subject, aswell as provide an opportunity for Indian officers undergoingthe Naval Higher Command Course to interact with the foreignparticipants, and understand the perspectives of regionalnavies, on issues of common concern. Indian Navy has been providing training to naval personnelfrom friendly countries over the last five decades, duringwhich it has trained more than 13,000 foreign personnel from42 countries. The training interactions would complement in fulfillingour national objectives of "strengthening cooperation andfriendship with other countries to promote regional and globalstability". PTI SAPSC