ITEC PROGRAM – FOR SPREAD OF GLOBAL INDIAN EXPIERENCE

By Ina Stašević from Croatia: The Embassy of India in Zagreb/Croatia celebrated the ITEC Day on March 26, the Indian program of technical and economic cooperation, a leading initiative of the Government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of India.

Ambassador, His Excellency Raj Kumar Srivastava, greeted the guests and highlighted the partnership between India and Croatia.

The event was attended by ITEC Alumni (former students) from Croatia who shared their experiences about training opportunities in Indian technical institutions and universities. 

I, as journalist and assistant professor from the Catholic University of Croatia, shared my happy memory of attending classes at EFLU in Hyderabad.

My story with India began fifteen years ago with my trip to that country for its rich cultural heritage, world-famous monuments, and cuisine.

In 2020, I was a participant in education within the ITEC program. During my four-month stay at the English and Foreign Languages University in Hyderabad, I studied English language. This education improved my skills and helped me gain self-esteem and leadership skills through organized workshops. It helped me grow up. Transferring knowledge and education beyond the "four walls", in this case India, is the best way for each of us to make the world a better place, build cultural bridges and break stereotypes.

Study trips were also organized during my stay. I visited some interesting localities, places of historical importance.

The ITEC program is not only a program of exchange, learning and gaining new valuable experiences, it is a program that gave me the opportunity to get to know India in its various aspects. Today, India is a fast-growing economic power with good opportunities and has a big and bright future and not only that, during my stay I developed relationships with amazing people around the world (newspaper editors, chiefs of staff of presidents of states, diplomats...) Since then, I have been permanently connected with India and many parts of the world. A nice example of that friendship is the question of one of my Indian friends - when am I coming home? Nice, isn't it!

Thanks to all my teachers!