'Revolutionary' response by Afghan students to Indian scholarships

New Delhi, Mar 8 (UNI) Afghanistan students have shown an ''overwhelming and revolutionary'' response, ''never witnessed before,'' to India's offer of scholarships for various courses with about 12,000 students having registered for pre-selection English language proficiency test in February alone.

These include 6500 candidates in Kabul, 2500 in Jalalabad, 1500 in Mazar-e-Sharif, 650 in Herat and 420 in Kandahar.

On the basis of the results in the English language proficiency test and oral interviews conducted by the Indian Embassy in Kabul, 500 most meritorious students will be short-listed for the award of scholarship.

After that the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) will process the same with the various universities for finalising the admissions.

During his official visit to Afghanistan in August 2005, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had announced grant of 500 scholarships for Afghan students for pursuing University education in India.

The ICCR has been mandated to administer the scheme. The scholarship offer includes all university-level under-graduate and post-graduate courses in Arts, Science, Engineering, Commerce, Business Administration and Law.

The detailed offer of scholarships for the academic year 2006-2007 was announced in Afghanistan in February 2006 through the Indian Embassy in Kabul.

''The response to the Indian offer has been overwhelming,'' an External Affairs Ministry spokesman said here today.

The offer of scholarship has been widely reported in the Afghan media, including national and regional TV channels as well as national and local radio stations besides various Afghan news dailies.

According to the Afghan Ministry of Higher Education, with whom the Indian Embassy has been coordinating selection of candidates, the response received for the scholarship scheme has been 'revolutionary, never witnessed before in Afghanistan.'' The ICCR currently offers 1200 scholarships every year to foreign students to pursue under-graduate, post graduate and also Ph.D.

courses in India.

The grant of scholarships to Afghan students, which is in addition to the general scholarships already offered by the ICCR, is an important positive step forward in strengthening and promoting cultural ties with Afghanistan, the spokesman said.

It also adds another new dimension to the already warm and friendly relations between the two countries, based on mutual trust and understanding, he added.

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