Fifty-two cadets of the Afghan National Army (ANA) passed out of the Indian Military Academy (IMA) on Saturday in the presence of Defence Minister A.K.Antony, Chief of Army Staff General Bikram Singh and 16 senior ANA officers of the Afghan Army, who themselves trained at the Academy between 1974 and 1982.
Among the officers were General Musa Khan Akbarzada, now Governor of the Ghazni Province, and General Mehrabulddin Safi, Governor of Kapisa.
The Army said that from 1974 to 1982, as many as 37 Afghans attended one-year training as cadets at the IMA, after training for three years at the National Defence Academy or the ACC Wing. Thereafter, training at the IMA was suspended due to the fighting between the Mujahideen and the Soviet Army.
However, ever since training resumed at the National Defence Academy in 2007 and at the IMA in 2011, a very large number of ANA officers have been trained there. Many officers, who had passed out till 1982, achieved high-ranking jobs in the Afghan Army and in government and civic offices.
India intends training nearly 1,000 ANA soldiers in various defence establishments every year.
The ANA personnel are undergoing specialised courses at the Artillery School, Devlali; the Mechanised Infantry Regimental Centre, Ahmednagar, and the Infantry School, Mhow, apart from in the IMA and the NDA.
