Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Aug 8: Regional Director of Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, Balwant Thakur, today honored the first ICCR scholars from Islamic Republic of Afghanistan–Rohullah and Mohammad Jafar Tanin who have won the ICCR scholarships and will undergo MSc Agricultural Economics and MSc Plant Breeding Genetics, respectively from Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST), Jammu.
Welcoming them in Jammu, Balwant Thakur said that with the coming of ICCR in Jammu, the educational institutions of Jammu are all set to become the global destination of education. Earlier, a scholar from Namibia (Africa) has also sought the admission in SKUAST, Jammu under the Africa Scholarship programme of ICCR.
Briefing the objectives of the ICCR, Thakur said the main motive of the ICCR is to participate in the formulation and implementation of the policies and programmes relating to India’s external cultural relations: to foster and strengthen cultural relations and mutual understanding between India and other countries and providing scholarships to foreign students for their study in India to achieve that mandate.
He said, one of the major activities of the ICCR is its scholarship programme. The ICCR annually offers about 3365 scholarships under 24 scholarship schemes. Of these scholarships, 1000 are exclusively for the students of Afghanistan and 900 for students from African countries. There are students in India under these schemes from about 135 countries. Around 4750 foreign students are currently studying in India under the various scholarship schemes.
Balwant Thakur also called on the Registrar and the Director (Education) of SKUAST and apprised them about the mission of ICCR in awarding the scholarships to the foreign students for their study in India. He requested the Varsity administration to create avenues for such foreign students to orient them with the local culture.
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