Staff reporter
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday directed the authorities concerned to ensure a transparent and merit-based selection of the students to be sent to China for modern training in the agriculture sector.
The prime minister, chairing a meeting on the subject, also directed the formation of a committee to address the grievances of the students not meeting the standard during the scrutiny.
Calling China a time-tested friend of Pakistan and lauding its development in the agriculture sector, he told the participants that during his China visit, he had requested the Chinese leadership for the modern training of Pakistani students in the agriculture sector.
Prime Minister Shehbaz also thanked the Chinese leadership and the universities for allowing the Pakistani students.
In the meeting, the prime minister was told that 1287 male and female students had applied through a portal of which 711 – including those from Gilgit Baltistan and Balochistan – met the criteria.
The second batch of 400 students will leave for China by mid-year to be trained in the use of modern agricultural machinery, rapid crop growth, and modern agricultural technology, including artificial intelligence and the processing of fruits and vegetables.
Federal ministers Ahsan Iqbal, Rana Tanveer Hussain, and Ahad Khan Cheema, the Chairman of the Higher Education Commission, and relevant senior officers attended the meeting.
