National Security Guard (NSG) Regional Hub campus at Kolkata

• Union Minister for Home Affairs, Shri Amit Shah inaugurated the National Security Guard (NSG) Regional Hub campus at Kolkata
• This state-of-the-art regional hub complex at Kolkata, worth over Rs.162 crores, will have Residential and Non Residential Complexes to house 460 persons and families, office accommodation and modern training facilities such as Baffle firing range, indoor shooting range, obstacles, swimming pool, sports complex, and artificial rock craft wall, etc. This latest NSG complex has become a model regional hub of the NSG, which will help in honing the professional acumen of the NSG commandos and also contribute significantly in capacity building of the first responders, the Police forces of the States.   The area of responsibility of this Hub comprises of West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand & the entire North East. The Kolkata hub, hitherto functioning from the Kolkata airport, is the fourth to have permanent infrastructure after Mumbai, Chennai, and Hyderabad.

National Security Guard

• The National Security Guard (NSG) is an elite counter-terrorism unit under the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). It was raised on 15 October 1984, following Operation Blue Star, Akshardham Temple attack and the assassination of Indira Gandhi, "for combating terrorist activities to protect states against internal disturbances".
• NSG is under the authority of the Ministry of Home Affairs and is categorized under the uniform nomenclature of Central Armed Police Forces. It has a special forces mandate, and its core operational capability is provided by the Special Action Group (SAG) which is drawn from the Indian Army. The Special Rangers Group (SRG), the police component of NSG, is composed of personnel on deputation from other Central Armed Police Forces and State Police Forces.

  International cooperation of NSG

  The National Security Guard has conducted international exchanges and joint training with foreign special forces, including those from Germany, Russia, United States, France, Israel, and Australia.
  • USA
  • Joint cooperation between the United States and NSG was first discussed in 2013. Further discussion took place when US president Barack Obama in January 2015. Subsequently, the first joint counter-terrorism exercise between NSG and United States Army Special Forces, code-named Balanced Iroquois, was conducted starting 18 October 2015. This three-week-long exercise was preceded by a joint airborne-jump at Aero India 2015.
  • In February 2018, Green Berets from the 1st Special Forces Command (Airborne) conducted a joint training exercise with the NSG in Kolkata. The Green Berets learned some urban warfare strategies from the NSG while the NSG learned about some advanced equipment of the US soldiers. The drill included intervention techniques, training in the KolkatMetro system and a drill at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur.
  • In March 2019, the NSG and US special forces from the 1st Special Forces Group carried out joint exercises in Hyderabad.
  • Germany
  • In the aftermath of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, the NSG decided to a joint exercise with the German GSG 9. In November 2009, a team from NSG visited the GSG 9 headquarters.
  Source: PIB