ISLAMABAD: The Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) Ministerial Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation and Pakistan’s University of Lahore have joined hands to launch a fellowship program for Bangladeshi students and scholars, state-run media reported on Sunday. 

The program is open for Bangladeshi nationals aged 22 to 45, residing in any country of the world, the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) said. It said Bangladeshi nationals must have outstanding academic achievements and a demonstrated commitment to contributing to their communities for the fellowship.

The program covers tuition fee waiver, round-trip airfare, honorarium and free accommodation, it added. 

“This fellowship program is a testament to our commitment to bridging gaps in education and research across the Muslim world,” Dr. Muhammad Iqbal Choudhary, COMSTECH’s coordinator general said. 

“By investing in Bangladeshi scholars and students, we aim to cultivate a generation of innovators and leaders who will address the challenges of our time.”

Eligible candidates can apply through the official websites of COMSTECH and the University of Lahore, APP said, adding that applications are open until Mar. 1, 2025.

The development takes place amid a renewed push from both Bangladesh and Pakistan to improve their ties after former prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s ouster from office in August last year. 

Established together as one independent nation in 1947, Bangladesh won liberation from then-West Pakistan in 1971. Relations between the two countries continued to deteriorate during Hasina’s administration, which prosecuted several members of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) party for war crimes relating to the 1971 conflict.

However, Islamabad’s ties with Dhaka have improved as Bangladesh’s relations with India, where Hasina has sought refuge, have deteriorated.

ISLAMABAD: India has issued visas to 100 Pakistani pilgrims to attend events related to the annual death anniversary of revered Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, state media reported this week, saying that the number was “significantly below” the allowed quota of 500 pilgrims. 

Pakistan and India regularly issue visas to residents of each other’s countries to attend birth and death anniversaries of religious personalities. The 1974 Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines agreement allows devotees from both countries to visit sacred sites, including Hindu temples in Pakistan and Islamic shrines in India. 

However, political tensions between the two nations have at times disrupted these exchanges, with instances where visas were denied to religious pilgrims.

“The Indian authorities have issued visas to only 100 Pakistani pilgrims for the annual Urs of Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer Sharif, India, significantly below the allotted quota of 500,” state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) said on Saturday.

Pakistan’s religion ministry spokesperson Umer Butt said India has denied visas to a potential 400 Pakistani pilgrims this year to attend Chishti’s death anniversary. 

“Despite the restrictions, he said 100 Pakistani pilgrims are set to leave for Ajmer Sharif on Sunday via the Wagah border,” APP reported. 

He said these pilgrims will participate in various religious ceremonies at Chishti’s shrine, widely known as Gharib Nawaz, at Ajmer in India’s Rajasthan. 

Despite the tensions between the two countries, Pakistan has actively promoted religious tourism in recent years, welcoming Buddhist monks as well as Hindu and Sikh pilgrims from India and across the globe. 

The inauguration of the Kartarpur Corridor in 2019, which allows visa-free travel for Indian Sikhs to the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, is a significant milestone in these efforts.

Each year, a large number of Indian Sikhs also travel to Pakistan to pay homage at sacred sites, including Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s Samadhi in Lahore, the last resting place of the founder of the Sikh Empire, and Gurdwara Panja Sahib in Hasan Abdal, revered for its connection to Guru Nanak.