Jinja: Marking a milestone in Indian-Uganda bilateral cooperation, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar inaugurated the first foreign campus of India's National Forensic Sciences University in Jinja, Uganda on Wednesday.

"A personal vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, its international footprint is a matter of particular satisfaction," Jaishankar tweeted.

Jaishankar also highlighted this was a proud day for India, a proud day for Uganda and for the India-Uganda relationship. The inauguration of NFSU's Uganda campus is an example of practical cooperation between the two nations, he added.

Mentioning the courses offered by this university - Forensic Sciences in behavioural sciences, cyber security, digital forensics and allied sciences - Jaishakar said that he was confident that these courses will be in high demand from students and will bring immense benefits to all the stakeholders in Uganda and in Africa.

In his remarks at the inauguration of the NFSU in Uganda, Jaishankar said, "India's National Forensic Sciences University is opening its campus in Uganda, partnering with the Ugandan People's Defence Forces. This is the first foreign campus of the National Forensic Sciences University. Even more important, it is actually the first government University of India opening a campus anywhere abroad in the world."

"The National Forensic Sciences University is an institution of national importance and is the world's first university dedicated exclusively to forensic sciences. It was established in Ahmadabad in Gujarat, under the dynamic leadership of our Prime Minister. This university conducts courses in forensic sciences, behavioural sciences, cybersecurity, digital forensics, and allied sciences, and also promotes research in these areas," Jaishankar added.

He also said, "For the past few years we have seen that courses in forensic sciences were in very high demand from students in Africa under various scholarships provided by the Government of India. One of the reasons why the stakeholders thought about a campus in Uganda, was in fact the high acceptance of this university among students from Africa."

Jaishankar said that discussions for this campus have been going on between the NFSU and the Ugandan authorities for some time. "The issue got a real push when the President of Uganda wrote to our Prime Minister in August 2022 and the Prime Minister immediately directed the concerned ministries to support NFSU on this proposal. The campus we are going to launch today is therefore reflective of the vision and the relationship of the highest leadership of our both countries. That also makes it a responsibility of all stakeholders to give their best to this institution and make it truly a centre of excellence," he added.

At the inaugural event of NFSU's Uganda campus, Jaishankar also spoke on the defence relations between India and Uganda.

He said, "Our two countries have robust defence relations. India has been regularly training and exchanging with UPDF, under its Economic and Technical Cooperation Programme. About 50 UPDF officers travel to India every year to take defence courses ranging from short-term months to up to one year."

"Further, a four-member Indian Military Advisory and Training Team is stationed in the Defence Staff College of UPDF since 2010 and I acknowledge their presence here today. I am happy to note that our discussions have raised to open up the possibility of further expansion of defence cooperation, in the last few months and years. Cooperation between the National Defence College and the newly constituted NDC of Uganda is also under consideration," Jaishankar concluded.

During his Uganda visit, Jaishankar also discussed Millets with a Ugandan chef. "Great to discuss Millets and their importance in Ugandan culture. Shree Anna is another facet binding us together," he tweeted.

Notably, EAM Jaishankar is on a visit to Uganda and Mozambique from April 10-15 to further strengthen India's "strong bilateral relations" with the two countries.