EU-India enhance security cooperation with CBRN training
Enhancing efforts to strengthen EU-India security cooperation, the EU Delegation to India facilitated a two-week CBRN-E risk management course for 16 Indian CBRN experts from 29th May to 9th June 2023 in Slovakia. The initiative was organised by the EU-backed project, Enhancing Security Cooperation In and With Asia (ESIWA), which supports deeper security engagement between the EU, its Member States, and ESIWA’s partner nations across the Indo-Pacific.
The course, led by experts from the International Security and Emergency Management Institute (ISEMI) at the University of Zilina in Slovakia, focused on enhancing skills for the detection, sampling, and decontamination of CBRN hazards; building knowledge and capacity for responding to live CBRN incidents; and sharing EU best practice on CBRN multi-agency response coordination and cooperation.
The participants from India included representatives from the National Disaster Response Force, Department of Atomic Energy, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, and the National Disaster Management Authority.
A combination of lectures, discussions, role-play scenarios, laboratory work, and field exercises, the training provided a unique and comprehensive learning experience. During the hands-on training, Indian practitioners donned a range of personal protective equipment and HAZMAT suits, while working closely with toxic and other dangerous substances as they practiced methods and techniques for identifying and sampling CBRN materials.
The two-week course also enabled knowledge sharing and exchange of best practices between the Indian and Slovak experts. This exchange between the EU and India underlines the commitment to further bolster EU-India security cooperation.