Islamabad, March 16, 2026: The High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to Pakistan, Fred Senevirathne, met with Chairman of the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan, Niaz Ahmad Akhtar, to discuss ways to further strengthen educational cooperation between the two countries.
During the meeting held in Islamabad, the Sri Lankan envoy expressed appreciation for the Government of Pakistan’s initiative of awarding 1,000 scholarships to Sri Lankan students under the Allama Iqbal Scholarship Programme, which was launched in 2018.
Senevirathne noted that the programme has provided significant opportunities for Sri Lankan youth to pursue higher education in Pakistan. He highlighted that nearly 700 of the scholarships have already been utilised, with many students successfully graduating from Pakistani universities in fields such as medicine, engineering, information technology and cyber security.
He said the initiative has played a key role in promoting academic exchange and strengthening people-to-people ties between Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The High Commissioner also proposed renewing the scholarship programme so that more Sri Lankan students could benefit from higher education opportunities in Pakistan.
Chairman HEC Niaz Ahmad Akhtar welcomed the continued academic engagement between the two countries and praised the strong academic performance and discipline demonstrated by Sri Lankan students studying in Pakistani universities.
He reaffirmed the Higher Education Commission’s commitment to expanding international academic collaboration and assured the Sri Lankan side that HEC would extend full cooperation in supporting initiatives aimed at further strengthening educational ties between Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
The meeting was also attended by Sri Lanka’s Head of Chancery A Christy Ruban and Minister Chathurika Sankapali. From the HEC side, Director General HRD Ayesha Ikram and Project Director of the scholarship programme Jehanzeb Khan were present.
