LAHORE: 27th OCT 2024
Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Faisal Karim Kundi, met with the fifth Executive President of the Maldives, Mr. Mohamed Waheed Hassan and Professor Rohan Gunaratna at Minhaj University, Lahore. The meeting was held after the closing ceremony of 7th International Conference on World Religions hosted by Minhaj Univeristy. Mr. Khurram Nawaz Gandapur, Nazim-e-Ala Minhaj ul Quran International, was also in attendance.
The Governor expressed his keen interest in forming collaborations between Maldives and Pakistan in the areas of education and tourism. He emphasized that Pakistan, especially Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, has tremendous potential for tourism, including religious tourism, cultural tourism, recreational and adventure tourism. It was discussed that given how tourism is an essential component of Maldivian economy and how Pakistan has abundant potential for tourism, both countries could benefit from collaboration in this regard.
Moreover, Mr. Kundi stressed on the need to form effective collaborations in the field of education as well. He extended an invitation to the Former President of Maldives to establish educational linkages between universities in KP and Maldives in terms of student and teacher exchange programs, joint research projects, professional development, technology sharing and online learning platforms. Mr. Kundi asserted that such inter-educational linkages would help build a resilient Pakistan by increasing educational opportunities for youth.
While speaking to Dr. Rohan Gunaratna, a national security expert, Governor Kundi discussed how critical the security situation in KP was for the overall security of Pakistan. Building greater understanding and friendship between communities is KPK is essential for harmony in the region. In this regard, Dr. Rohan Gunaratna suggested establishment of Harmony Centres for youth in KP that offer support in the form of vocational, recreational and educational opportunities along with psychosocial counselling. The Governor expressed his willingness to work on such Centres to promote social cohesion and strengthen KP’s unity.#