LONDON– British intelligence agents are helping to train senior Indian policemen in the latest sign of deepening intelligence co-operation between London and Delhi, reports ‘The Times’. The paper said about 100 officers from across India began a two-week course in Cambridge on Monday , the first under a new agreement signed last year to fast-track the country’s best coppers.
Officers from Britain’s security service (MI5) and secret intelligent service (MI6) will be passing off expertise in the course being run by Cambridge University’s Institute of Criminology.
The course is being run by Sir Ian Blair, former Metropolitan Police Commissioner. The paper quoted the head of Indian Police Academy Rajiv Mathur as saying that the elite Indian Police Service was particularly keen to learn from the British experience of dealing with Islamic terrorism and its preparation for the Olympics.
“We’ve been impressed by how they’ve handled some of the recent terrorism cases,” said Mathur.
The paper said that will please Britain’s security establishment, which has been keen to foster better links with India as part of Prime Minister David Cameron’s commitment to an “enhanced relationship” with the emerging global superpower.
P. Chidambaram, India’s Home Minister, was given access to the GCHQ facility in Cheltenham on a visit last year.
He also signed the agreement that will see batches of about 100 policemen at the rank of inspector general pass through Cambridge as part of their grooming – APP
