People of Sindh believe in promoting their culture: US consul general

SUKKUR: US Consul General Grace Shelton inaugurated the Lahooti Festival in Hyderabad on Sunday. She said that the people of Sindh were very loving, adding that they also loved their culture and believed in promoting their culture and traditions.

She hoped that with events like the Lahooti Festival it would become easier to promote intermingling between different countries. US Consul General Grace Shelton said that U.S.-Pakistan Center for Advanced Studies in Water (USPCAS-W) was producing next generation leaders who would look after the sustainability issues and challenges faced by Pakistan in the water sector.

While interacting with exchange students and the faculty of USPCAS-W who recently returned after spending one semester at the University of Utah (UU) at USA, she said that USPCAS-W was one of its kind and prominent U.S. Higher Education programmes in Pakistan, which would pave way for applied research corridor in the country. She had a wonderful interactive session with the exchange students and faculty in which the exchange experiences were shared by them.

Vice Chancellor Mehran University of Engineering and Technology (MUET) Dr Mohammad Aslam Uqaili welcomed the guests of US Consulate and said that USPCAS-W is a state-of-the-art and modern applied research centre in the water sector of Pakistan which was established with generous support by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Dr Uqaili said that MUET was first public sector university to adopt the Gender Equity Policy after approval of concerned authorities. In this connection, a baby day care centre, women resource centre and other facilities for women employees and students were established in the MUET.

He further said that USPCAS-W was encouraging and empowering women scientists and researchers to actively participate in applied research to solve Pakistan’s contemporary problems. On this occasion, Chief of Party USPCAS-W Dr Mohammad Aslam Chaudhry briefed the delegation regarding the exchange selection criteria of the students.

Project Director of USPCAS-W Dr Bakhshal Lashari presented vote of thanks and also briefed the US delegation regarding activities and achievements of the centre. The USAID Senior Policy Adviser Dr Randy Hatfield, Agreement Officer’s Representative Hafeez Samo and other officials of the US Consulate and the USAID participated in the event.

On this occasion, Vice Chancellor MUET Dr Uqaili presented the traditional gifts and souvenirs to the guests. Later on, the Consul General Ms Shelton also visited the under construction building of USPCAS-W.