Guyana’s participation in India’s ITEC programme increasing as bilateral cooperation deepens

Guyana’s involvement in India’s flagship capacity-building initiative, the India Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Programme, has been steadily increasing, reflecting stronger bilateral cooperation between the two countries, according to Indian High Commissioner to Guyana, Dr Amit Telang.
Speaking at a press briefing on Saturday, Dr Telang noted that Guyana continues to benefit from India’s extensive suite of training and scholarship opportunities across a wide array of sectors.
“We have seen a steady increase in the number of participants from Guyana,” the High Commissioner said. “In my initial year here, we had close to 100 participants. The following year, it was around 120 to 140. So, every year the number has been increasing.”
The ITEC programme, launched in 1964, provides training across diverse fields such as agriculture, pharmaceuticals, media and defence. Dr Telang explained that it has proven especially valuable for members of Guyana’s defence and police forces.
“We have a dedicated programme in the security area,” he said. “Many people, especially from the defence forces and police forces, travel to India to take part in these training programmes.”
Beyond ITEC, India also offers academic scholarships through the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR), enabling Guyanese students to pursue higher education in areas such as music, fine arts and even postgraduate and doctoral studies.
Dr Telang stressed the importance of these opportunities, especially as Guyana’s economy expands and demand for skilled professionals rises.
“Capacity building has always been a strength of this relationship. We have always seen a lot of interest from Guyana’s people to participate in these courses,” he said. “But we would definitely like to see more participation… I’d be even happier if more people take advantage of these opportunities.”
India has long maintained close diplomatic and development ties with Guyana, with cooperation spanning health, education, infrastructure, and most recently, energy and defence. The ITEC and ICCR programmes represent a key part of this growing partnership, helping to equip Guyanese citizens with the skills to contribute to national development.
Just a few days ago, President Dr Irfaan Ali sharply criticised regional leaders for failing to capitalise on the ITEC Programme, describing it as a missed opportunity to build capacity across the Caribbean.
During Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Guyana last year for the 2nd India-CARICOM Summit in Georgetown, an appeal was made to Caribbean nations to capitalise on the opportunities offered by the ITEC Programme, however no significant actions were taken by regional countries
ITEC is one of the oldest institutionalised arrangements for international capacity building, having trained more than 200,000 officials from over 160 countries in both civilian and defence sectors.
President Ali expressed his disappointment, stating, “I would say I’m very disappointed in the region, and I’ll tell you why. When Prime Minister Modi was here, he emphasised that there are thousands of training opportunities under the ITEC programme in India. In the last four years, hundreds of our officers have benefited from training in the ITEC programme in the most sophisticated fields at every level. I found out that they have not received any or very few applications from the region for training under the ITEC programme.”
In this regard, he challenged regional leaders to examine the ITEC Programme and make full use of it, encouraging the region to take advantage of the opportunities it presents.