Pakistan has affirmed its commitment to further strengthening its relationship with South Asia University and advancing mutually-beneficial collaboration in the field of higher education in future. Pakistan’s High Commissioner to India Sohail Mahmood recently visited the South Asian University (SAU) in New Delhi and had fruitful exchange of views with SAU’s president Kavita A Sharma.

Emphasising SAARC’s role as the primary platform for regional cooperation in South Asia, Mahmood expressed the hope that the SAARC process would continue to move forward and help the South Asian people realise their collective vision for socio-economic development. Specifically, the envoy underlined the interest of Pakistani students in pursuing higher studies at SAU and highlighted the importance of university’s facilitative role in this context.

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He also conveyed Pakistan’s readiness to help strengthen collaborative linkages between SAU and its partner universities in Pakistan, facilitate academic exchanges and promote participation in conferences/ seminars.

During his tour of the university campus, Mahmood was briefed about the university’s major academic programmes, the students’ body and faculty, key areas of research and plans underway for the new campus of SAU. He also saw various departments, labs and library. The High Commissioner presented a set of books to the SAU president, illustrating the Sikh, Hindu and Christian heritage in Pakistan. President Kavita Sharma presented him a memento on the occasion. The SAU was established jointly by the eight SAARC member states ~ Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The agreement for establishment of SAU was signed during the 14th SAARC Summit in New Delhi on 4 April 2007. The university began taking students in August 2010.