India’s High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Taranjit Singh Sandhu said more than 25000 seats are earmarked in Indian Institutions for foreign students and urged the students in Sri Lanka to make use of all these opportunities.
Addressing the annual Research Congress of the Post Graduate Institute of Sciences (PGIS) in University of Peradeniya as Chief Guest Friday, the High Commissioner said India recently started conducting the IIT Joint Entrance Examination and the Graduate Aptitude Test for Engineering (GATE) in Colombo for the benefit of Sri Lankan students.
He further said that the Government of India offers 750 scholarships annually to the Sri Lankan students, for Undergraduate, Postgraduate and Doctoral studies.
“We have also launched a new web portal, Study in India, which has all the relevant information regarding education opportunities in India, in one place. More than 25000 seats are earmarked in Indian Institutions for foreign students. I urge students in Sri Lanka to make use of all these opportunities,” High Commissioner Sandhu said.
He noted that Sri Lanka was the first country in South Asia to join the National Knowledge Network (NKN) Network, through which Sri Lankan Universities now have digital access to around 1600 universities in India & beyond.
High Commissioner Sandhu participated in the inaugural ceremony of RESCON2019 – the annual Research Congress of the Post Graduate Institute of Sciences (PGIS) in University of Peradeniya as Chief Guest Friday.
Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University Prof. Parakrama Karunaratne was Guest of Honor and Prof. Alan Lyons from City University of New York delivered keynote address. More than two hundred researchers, faculty and members of the academia were present at the event.
In his address, High Commissioner Sandhu underlined both India’s and Sri Lanka’s rich scientific tradition. He also highlighted recent advances that India has made in the field of Science and Technology (S&T) and pointed out opportunities available for Sri Lankan scholars for collaboration with their Indian counterparts in the S&T sector.
High Commissioner Sandhu reiterated that for India, Sri Lanka is special. He recalled that the Indian Housing project in Sri Lanka, is the largest grant assistance project of Government of India, in any country abroad.
“Similarly, we have constructed the largest University Auditorium in Sri Lanka, in University of Ruhuna. The 1990 Emergency Ambulance funded by India, which is now operational islandwide. Our development partnership with Sri Lanka is based on Sri Lanka’s own priorities. Our projects are people-oriented. They have a direct impact on the lives of common people. From North to the South and West to East, it is spread all across the island,” he said.
High Commissioner emphasized that India continued to stand with Sri Lanka and noted that following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s solidarity to visit to Sri Lanka in June 2019, the number of Indian tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka became around thrice the number from second highest source market.
In his remarks Deputy Vice Chancellor appreciated collaboration of Peradeniya University with India and highlighted the institute’s participation in Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) program.
Courtesy: Colombo Page
