Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 15 (IANS): The CPI(M) in Kerala on Wednesday slammed the BJP-led Centre over the IIM-Kozhikode's course training to the Taliban government's foreign ministry staff members, and said this showed their close ties with the Sangh Parivar.

"This clearly shows the tie-up between the Sangh Parivar forces in the country and the Taliban and this is being undertaken through this online course," said CPI(M) state secretary M.V. Govindan.

In a first, members of the Taliban regime in Kabul are attending a four-day 'India immersion' online course that began on Tuesday. The course is offered by IIM-Kozhikode as part of New Delhi's capacity-building platform, the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme (ITEC).

After the news went viral on social media, which states that "this is an office circular of the foreign affairs ministry of the Islamic Emirates of Afghanistan and is being worked out through the Indian Embassy in Kabul, presently manned by local staff".

The circular is for those who are interested and fluent in English.

Incidentally this four-day online course is open to all countries.

According to the ITEC website, the programme is "an India Immersion Program for Cross Sectoral Foreign Delegates".

Instituted in 1964 under the external affairs ministry, ITEC is one of the oldest institutionalised arrangements for international capacity-building. It has trained more than 200,000 civilian and defence officials from more than 160 countries.