ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s High Commissioner in Colombo has said Islamabad would award 1,000 scholarships to Sri Lankan students in various fields, and the two countries were in talks to set up a ‘world-class’ university in Sri Lanka with Pakistan’s help.
“The Government of Pakistan, through its High Commission, will be awarding 1000 scholarships to the Sri Lankan students in diverse fields and will undertake exchange of faculty members and students programmes,” Pakistan’s mission in Colombo said in a statement on March 26. “Modalities are being discussed with concerned authorities to establish a world-class, high-tech university in Sri Lanka.”
“There is no medium better than education to promote mutual understanding among people of different countries, and achievement of academic and professional milestones,” Pakistan’s Higher Education Commission (HEC) said in a statement.
In a separate statement released on March 13, the high commissioner invited students of the Buddhist & Pali University to visit Pakistan and assured them complete assistance and visa facilitation.
The South Asian nations have always had friendly relations. In the past, Pakistan has supplied high-tech military equipment to the Sri Lankan army to use in its civil war against the Tamil Tigers.
Trade between Sri Lanka and Pakistan stands at less than $400 million a year but Pakistan said in 2016 it would re-invigorate efforts to reach a target of $1 billion “at the earliest.”
