External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday said that the South Asian University (SAU) will help forge a sense of ‘South Asian consciousness’ by bringing together students from the region in the pursuit of quality education.
“South Asian University owes its genesis to India’s initiative at the 13th SAARC Summit in Dhaka. India offered to host the university. Our objective was to establish a university dedicated to the region with world-class facilities, professional faculty, diligent students and brilliant researchers,” Swaraj said, at the ground breaking ceremony of the university in the national capital.
“Such a university would forge a sense of South Asian consciousness by bringing together South Asian students in the common pursuit of quality education. I am glad that in the past decade the University
has moved from a concept to actual reality on the ground. A campus of its own will add to the growing prestige of the university,” she added.
Swaraj further said that India is committed to bearing the costs of the university, calling for all SAARC countries to cooperate in education.
“The establishment of the university is one of the most visible sign of transformation of SAARC from declaration to implementation. Incidentally, it is also the first international university in India. We are committed to bearing 100 percent of the capital cost of USD 198 million towards the establishment of the university,” she said.
“Cooperation in the field of education will be of paramount importance if we are to ensure improvement in the inter-linked destinies of the people of South Asia. We are taking several steps in this direction including through the use of modern means of communication,” she added.
Swaraj also noted that the SAU is currently connecting with universities across the SAARC nations.
“We are in the process of extending our National Knowledge Network to all SAARC countries. This will allow students in South Asia to access digital libraries and network resources unimpeded. SAARC Satellite will also benefit the region in education and research. An idea proposed by Prime Minister Modi during his speech at the SAARC Summit last year was that SAU should connect with at least one university in each of the SAARC countries,” she said.
“I would like to compliment SAU for initiating partnership arrangements with institutions in each SAARC country. I believe that an MoU has been signed with Dhaka University and more such arrangements are in the pipeline,” she added. (ANI)