Indian Minister S Jaishankar inaugurated Jammu and Kashmir's first international education fair, a collaborative effort of SKUAST-Kashmir and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, according to an official statement.
While appreciating the SKUSAT-Kashmir for the International Education Fair initiative, Jaishankar said that three years ago, the process of change started in J-K which was intended to ensure that full benefits of the development and progress that the rest of India had seen for many many years are also now completely available to the people, especially to the youth of J-K.
"In that sense, people of J-K being in the national mainstream was extremely important. It was also by doing so, they would connect up with the rest of India and the International mainstream. For me it is not just an education event, it is a very integral part of ensuring that a very important region of India is connected to what is happening in the world," Jaishankar said.
He also observed that Indian universities should focus on inviting more foreign students to their campuses.
"Today, India has projects that are done or under-delivery in 78 countries of the world. So, if our relationships are so extensive, investments are so deep & networking is so good, we need to see that translated into a greater flow of international students to India," Jaishankar said.
"In a globalised world, it's absolutely essential that young people of India are fully aware of what's happening in the world and there is no better way to do that than having international students among you," Jaishankar added.
(ANI)