According to Times Higher Education’s Asia University Rankings 2023, Pakistan has surpassed India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka in the South Asian region, with more universities making it to the top 200. According to the UK-based organization, there are now more South Asian universities in the top 200 than ever before. The top 200 universities this year include 32 from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, a significant increase from the 24 universities in 2022 and higher than the pre-pandemic levels in 2019 when 25 South Asian universities made the cut. “Pakistan leads the charge, with 10 universities in the top 200 this year, up from six last year,” it wrote in its blog. The highest-ranked institution in Pakistan is Quaid-i-Azam University, which moved up from 116th to 98th position. University of Management and Technology, Government College University Faisalabad, University of Engineering and Technology, Taxila, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, among others, are among the other universities. The University of Dhaka, which jumps up to 186th place from the 251-300 band, and North South University, which wasn’t ranked last year and is now 192nd, are two Bangladeshi institutions that are included on the top 200 list for the first time this year. With 18 universities, one more than last year, India, which has historically contributed more to the top 200 rankings than its neighbors, saw only a slight increase in its representation. The Indian Institute of Science, the university with the highest ranking in the country, fell to 48th place, the lowest position it has held since the ranking’s inception in 2015.] Iran, which is located further north, fared much better in this year’s rankings, with nine institutions in the top 100, three more than last year, and 65 universities included in the 2023 rankings, up from 58 last year. The 13 performance indicators used in THE’s Asia University Rankings are the same as those used in the World University Rankings, but they have been adjusted to take into account the characteristics of Asian institutions.