Pakistan postpones scholarship programme for Afghan students

Spokesperson for Pakistani Embassy in Kabul says process has been 'temporarily delayed' due to security reasons

ISLAMABAD: In the wake of recent comments by Afghan leaders, Pakistan has postponed its scholarship programme for Afghanistan.

"Pakistan has temporarily delayed scholarships for Afghan students due to security reasons," spokesperson for the Pakistani Embassy in Kabul said on Wednesday.

Upto 6,000 students had applied for the Pakistani scholarships this year and all were scheduled to appear for the test, Akhtar Munir said.

“Since thousands had applied and it was difficult to arrange the English test in the current security situation, we have delayed it for some time,” the spokesperson added. “We will inform the applicants and will also post on the embassy's website once the process resumes,” he said.

Read: Pakistan does not ‘cooperate in anti-terrorism activities’, claims Abdullah Abdullah

The move comes after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani accused Pakistan on Monday of sending ‘messages of war’ and harbouring bomb-making camps, after a wave of devastating blasts in Kabul killed at least 56 people.

Ghani’s outburst came after he spoke to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif by the telephone to discuss the possibility of resumption of peace process between Kabul and the Afghan Taliban.

Afghanistan’s Chief Executive Dr Abdullah Abdullah had also claimed Pakistan does not cooperate in anti-terrorism campaign with Kabul.