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OIC's COMSTECH eyes enhanced academic collaboration between Pakistan, Bangladesh
ISLAMABAD: The OIC Ministerial Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation (COMSTECH) is organizing an upcoming visit by a high-level delegation of Bangladeshi universities to Pakistan next week, the global body said this week, as it aims to enhance academic collaboration between the two countries.
The 10-member delegation will comprise vice-chancellors and senior officials from leading public and private sector universities of Bangladesh, COMSTECH said in a statement on Friday. The delegation is set to visit Pakistan from June 16 to 21.
The visit is being organized at COMSTECH's invitation and is being facilitated by the Bangladesh High Commission in Islamabad, it said.
'The primary objective of the visit is to explore and enhance avenues of academic collaboration and institutional partnerships in the fields of higher education, science, and technology,' COMSTECH said in a press release.
'The delegation will participate in a series of high-level meetings, discussions, and interactive sessions with top Pakistani universities in Lahore and Islamabad.'
It said that these Pakistani institutions are members of COMSTECH's Consortium of Excellence (CCoE), a collaborative network of premier universities dedicated to advancing scientific cooperation and educational excellence among OIC member states.
'This initiative reflects COMSTECH's continued commitment to fostering inter-university cooperation and strengthening academic ties across the Muslim world, particularly between Bangladesh and Pakistan,' the statement concluded.
Ties between Pakistan and Bangladesh have improved recently. Once one nation, Bangladesh split from Pakistan after a brutal 1971 war with Dhaka drawing closer to Islamabad's arch-rival New Delhi over the years.
However, long-time Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted in August 2024 after her government was overthrown by a student-led protest. She fled via helicopter to India, with Dhaka attempting to extradite her.
Relations between India and Bangladesh's interim government have been frosty since then, allowing Islamabad and Dhaka to rebuild ties slowly.
