More linkages between Pakistan, US educational institutes urged

Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States Masood Khan on Sunday called for forging new linkages between Pakistan and the United States in a number of fields, including education, research and technology.

His remarks came during a visit to the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Pakistan's consul general in New York Ayesha Ali also accompanied the ambassador.

Addressing the students, Mr Khan noted that one of the key features of the US-Pakistan relationship was that it was people-centric, adding that people-to-people ties have been at the heart of it.

He highlighted that links between the two countries' scientists, researchers and academics have always been an important component of such people-to-people ties, and interactions in the higher education field between the institutions of Pakistan and the US "are a very important dimension of the overall partnership”.

“It is against this historically rich backdrop that our two governments have accorded high priority to deepening our cooperation in the field of education as we chart the course ahead for this defining stand-alone partnership,” Ambassador Khan said.

Kumble Subbaswamy, chancellor of the university, while thanking the ambassador reflected on the legacy of their frequent exchange programs from Pakistan under the university’s civic initiative that is run in partnership with the US State Department’s bureau of educational and cultural affairs study of the US institutes.Mr thanked the chancellor for his support and valuable partnership and assured him of the Pakistani government’s continued support in building linkages between Pakistan’s universities with the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Currently, hundreds of Pakistani students are studying at the university in different disciplines.

During the visit, Ambassador Khan interacted with a group of university teachers who visited Pakistan in 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic under an exchange programme.

Earlier in the day, the Ambassador addressed fifty students of economics and global history at Amherst Regional Public School to discuss the diplomatic relationship between Pakistan and the United States — with a focus on how students and youth can play a significant role in shaping its future.

The ambassador was received by the school’s principal, Talib Sadiq.