ISLAMABAD: The government of Pakistan has decided to offer 300 scholarships in various disciplines in leading universities to students from Bangladesh. A meeting was held at the education ministry on Thursday to discuss the initiative to offer the fully-funded scholarships to the students of Bangladesh through a consortium of leading Pakistani universities under the umbrella of Pakistan-Bangladesh Friendship Scholarship Programme. Pakistan is already scholarships to students from Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. Chaired by Secretary Education Mohyuddin Ahmad Wani, the meeting was attended by Executive Director Higher Education Commission (HEC) Prof Dr Ziaul Qayyum, representatives from the high commission of Pakistan to Bangladesh and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the consortium of the universities. According to the education ministry, the main objective of the scholarship programme is to foster strong ties between Pakistan and Bangladesh. The scholarships will be offered in the disciplines of engineering, basic and natural sciences, medicine and allied health, social sciences, arts and humanities, including subjects such as architecture, fine arts, business education, computer sciences, information technology, agriculture sciences, media and communication studies, languages, etc. The secretary education appreciated the proposal and advised the partner universities to conduct educational expos, seminars and road shows for maximum propagation of the initiative in Bangladesh in coordination with the local universities. He added that an online portal may be launched exclusively for these scholarships. Highlighting the importance of educational diplomacy in harnessing the regional harmony and a gesture of goodwill, the HEC executive director urged the Pakistani universities to seek approvals of their statutory bodies and relevant forums at the earliest for allocation of the scholarship slots, endorsement of fee waiver and to explore possible sponsorship options. The consortium included International Islamic University Islamabad, National University of Sciences and Technology, Comsats University, National University of Modern Languages, National University of Computer and Emerging Science Islamabad, Lahore University of Management Sciences, National College of Arts, Lahore, Pakistan Institute of Fashion and Design, Lahore; University of Lahore, Superior University, Lahore; National Textile University, Faisalabad; Aga Khan University, Karachi, and Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology.