Five Pakistani students graduate from South Asian University

New Delhi: Five Pakistani students have graduated from South Asian University this year, the Pakistani High Commission here said, Geo News reported.

They were awarded degrees during the 3rd convocation of SAU held on June 7, which was attended Pakistan’s High Commissioner to India Sohail Mahmood. The five Pakistani students completed their Masters from SAU in diverse disciplines, including biotechnology, computer science, law and international relations, the high commission said in a statement.

Speaking to the Pakistani graduates separately, Mahmood extended warm felicitations to them and their families and wished them well in their professional pursuits in the future. He also emphasised the “pivotal” role that the SAU could play in bringing the youth from South Asian nations together for grooming and higher learning. He hoped that more Pakistani students would be able to join SAU in the coming years - enriching its multinational character and contributing to the success of this collaborative Saarc project. After the graduation of five Masters students, there are now two PhD students from Pakistan at the SAU. As per the agreed system, Pakistan has 10 percent quota of the total seats in the university. The decision to establish the South Asian University was taken at the 14th Saarc Summit in New Delhi in April 2007. The university started taking students from August 2010.

This year, a total of 161 students received their Masters degrees, while 10 got MPhil and four PhD degrees. Mahmood hoped that Saarc, a “symbol of hope and collective aspirations for the people of South Asia”, would make progress as an effective instrument of regional cooperation and promote the goals of socio-economic development. The last Saarc Summit in 2014 was held in Kathmandu while the 2016 summit was to be held in Islamabad.

But after a terrorist attack on an Indian Army camp in Uri in Held Kashmir on September 18, 2016, India expressed its inability to participate in the summit due to “prevailing circumstances”. India had also stepped up diplomatic pressure on Pakistan. Nineteen Indian soldiers were killed in the attack. The summit was called off after Bangladesh, Bhutan and Afghanistan also declined to attend the summit at Islamabad.