Sri Lankan Minister for City Planning, Water Supply and Higher Education, Rauff Hakeem, on Tuesday, lauded Pakistan’s efforts to provide a number of opportunities to Lankan youth for their capacity building. He remarked this during a meeting with Pakistan’s High Commissioner, Major General (Retd) Dr Shahid Ahmad Hashmat, in Colombo. The two discussed bilateral relations and other areas of mutual interest during the meeting. The High Commissioner talked about the Pakistan-Sri Lanka Higher Education Cooperation Programme, under which numerous scholarships would be provided to Sri Lankan students. He also informed the minister about the prospects of establishing a Taxila Gandhara Civilization Study Centre at the University of Colombo. With the view to highlight Gandhara Heritage and cultural links between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, the high commissioner also talked of plans to organise an international seminar in collaboration with the Buddhist and Pali University of Sri Lanka in March this year. Published in Daily Times, February 20th 2019.