♦ The Indian Army is hosting the inaugural United Nations Fellowship Training Programme on Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) Control for the first time in Asia for the Asia-Pacific region. The program is being held under the aegis of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) from February 16 to March 6, 2026, at the Military College of Materials Management in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh. 

♦ The prestigious three-week fellowship is being organised by the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) through its Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific (UNRCPD). The programme brings together delegates from 13 nations across the Asia-Pacific region.

♦ The Fellowship is designed to build the technical and operational capacity of government officials responsible for implementing the UN Programme of Action (PoA) and the International Tracing Instrument (ITI) – key global frameworks aimed at preventing the illicit trade, diversion and misuse of Small Arms and Light Weapons.