The Pakistan High Commission in Dhaka has responded to concerns over differences in financial support for Bangladeshi students selected for master’s programmes under the Allama Iqbal Scholarship, maintaining that all recipients would receive equivalent support despite differing disbursement arrangements.
The clarification came in response to media queries over an apparent disparity between the financial assistance communicated to master’s students and that offered to students in other categories.
Shabid Ullah Wazir, press counsellor and spokesperson for the Pakistan High Commission in Dhaka, said the modalities for disbursing financial support to master’s students may differ from those for undergraduate students.
However, he maintained that all qualifying students under the programme would receive equivalent financial support.
The High Commission did not specify the amounts offered to different categories of students or explain how the support would be made equivalent under the different arrangements.
The scholarship programme is part of the Pakistan-Bangladesh Knowledge Corridor, an initiative announced by Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar during his visit to Dhaka in August 2025 to promote educational cooperation and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.
According to the High Commission, 74 Bangladeshi students joined universities in Pakistan last year under the programme’s first batch.
More than 3,000 students sat for admission tests for the second batch, of whom 125 qualified for undergraduate programmes, 22 for master’s programmes and 14 for PhD programmes, it said.
The selected students are expected to join their respective universities in Pakistan after completing the necessary formalities.
Wazir said Pakistan remained committed to strengthening cooperation with Bangladesh, including in education and people-to-people exchanges.
