Minsk, 20 January 2022 (TDI): On January 19, Ambassador Sajjad Haider Khan visited Belarusian State University (BSU) and held a meeting with the honorable Rector Mr. Andrei Korol. The meeting was also attended by the Deputy Rector for Academic Affairs and Internationalization of Education Mr. Konstantin Kozadaev and Head of International Relations Department Mr. Alexander Zhuk.
The two sides discussed the development of cooperation in higher education between the two countries. The Ambassador emphasized the need to avail opportunities of adding some practical programs in the context of the existing MOUs. It was also agreed to process the signing/renewal of MOUs between several Pakistani higher education establishments and BSU.
The BSU has signed MOUs with the COMSATS University, Foreign Service Academy, University of Punjab, Quaid-e-Azam University, while MOUs are under consideration with several other universities.
PAKISTAN- BELARUS DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS
Belarus declared its sovereignty from the Soviet Union in 1990, and in August 1991 declared its independence. According to the Embassy of Pakistan in Belarus; Pakistan formally recognized Belarus as an independent country in December 1991.
Belarus first opened its diplomatic representation in Islamabad in July 2014, and Pakistan opened its mission in Minsk in August 2015. The mutual relations between both have grown rapidly since the establishment.
According to the Embassy, both countries have a total of 77 signed Agreements/MOUs. The countries signed those agreements to advance cooperation in various spheres, like commerce, trade, and education.
Furthermore, the two countries based their bilateral relations on 8 characteristics. The first is to be effective, result-oriented, broad-based, and all-inclusive economic cooperation. Then is the closer business-to-business interaction.
The third characteristic is vigorous inter-parliamentary cooperation; then it’s the extending political support to each other at various international forums. The fifth characteristic is dynamic cooperation in the field of culture and education.
The next characteristic is vibrant defense linkages, and then striving for comprehensive inter-regional cooperation. The final characteristic of their bilateral relations in a comprehensive and extensive legal base of cooperation.
Moreover, the Embassy also mentioned that Pakistan and Belarus have close cooperation in the fields of education and culture. We can see this from the regular exchange of scientists, scholars, and students between the two sides. The year 2019 marked the 25th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral relations and both sides held a series of events to commemorate the milestone.