All through the duration of the elections, six senior officials of the elite Mauritius Security Services followed Special Protection Group officials around as they fanned out across the country with their VVIP charges such as Prime Minister Atal.Behari. Vajpayee and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi. The Mauritian group made their own arrangements for travel but were allowed to closely observe security arrangements by the SPG.

This is not the first instance wherethe Special Protection Group has been asked to act as a security guide to provide high-security tips. Just two months ago, a bunch of officials from Sri Lanka had come on a ``familiarisation and training'' program to the SPG. The Sri Lankan team also wanted specific training modules on how to provide security while combating a terrorist threat. They exchanged notes with the team handling Sonia Gandhi and her children's security since she too faces a threat from the LTTE.

The Pakistan request, however, got bogged down in the aftermath of the Kargil conflict. The request was made in the post-Lahore declaration period and after Kargil, Pakistan did not raise the issue again. But the Government denied the request anyway. Says a senior SPG official: ``If we can help remove the big brother, big bully perceptions of our neighbours, we are really happy to do so.''

The SPG has also been asked by Bangladesh for a copy of the SPG Act since it wants to set up a security agency for VVIP protection along similarlines. Bangladesh also wants the SPG to provide training to its existing VIP security force. The SPG has referred the Bangladesh request to the Central Government and sources say that the Government is likely to agree.

Sources say the reason the SPG is so popular as a model for security training is the fact that it has unrivalled expertise in providing security while handling huge crowds. Says a SPG official in-charge of security: ``Neighbouring countries face identical problems of huge unruly crowds unlike western countries. So they always turn to us since we have now virtually written the manual on providing security to VIP's with crowd control.''

Invariably, neighbourhood security teams want lessons in barricading, effective access control and in some cases, weapons handling. They are also curious about the various SPG training modules which the SPG commandos practice on. Psychological training which forms a large chunk of the SPG training program -- also has the neighbouring teams talking eagerly.They invariably want to learn the do's and don'ts of VVIP security and how the SPG successfully provides unobtrusive security to their demanding charges.

Sources who have handled the foreign teams reveal that they always want to know the protocol involved in case the protectee has controversial visitors. The SPG's advice: Ignore everything except security, do not gossip about charges and make sure the VVIP trusts you.