India celebrates 55 years of scholarship program

By Davut Demircan

ANKARA (AA) - The Indian Embassy in Ankara on Thursday celebrated 55 years of a fully funded scholarship program which was started with the goal of promoting cooperation among developing countries.

Alumni of the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) program and Hakan Riz Tekin, director general for South Asia at the Turkish Foreign Ministry, were hosted by Ambassador Sanjay Bhattacharyya at a traditional dinner.

Speaking at the event, Tekin said: "We are willing to further our cooperation with India in every possible field based on mutual benefit."

"We are happy to see cooperation between Turkish and Indian companies in all these areas," he added.

"We have signed several documents in the past few years especially in the field of scientific cooperation between our relevant organizations," Tekin said.

He also expressed his happiness at increasing the quota for Turkish citizens for the program this year.

Bhattacharyya said the ITEC has now become a very visible part of India’s role and contribution.

ITEC and its sister program Special Commonwealth Assistance for Africa Programme (SCAAP) covers 161 countries in Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Carribean as well as the Pacific and small island countries, Bhattacharyya said.

He added that to date some 350 officials of the Turkish government have attended the program.

Some ITEC alumni shared their experiences about India and how the course has benefitted their professional expertise.

Indian dances were also performed at the event.