April 29, 2007	Sunday	Rabi-us-Sani 11, 1428

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ISLAMABAD, April 28: Over 200 Pakistanis are currently studying in America under the Fulbright scholarship programme, US charge d’ affaires Peter W. Bodde said on Saturday.

“In just four years, the Fulbright programme with Pakistan has grown from a $2 million a year to one of over $30 million a year programme, now the largest in the world,” the American diplomat said while speaking at the fourth annual Fulbright alumni conference which concluded here at the Quaid-i-Azam University.

He described Fulbright programme as a vital and honoured part of US foreign policy. Mr Bodde said during the coming academic semester, American scholars would begin to return to teach and conduct research at Pakistani universities and other institutions of higher education.

“It is vitally important that scholars, educators and researchers from our two nations as well as in the wider region participate in such scholarly exchanges and engage regularly and learn from one another,” he said.

About 100 Fulbright alumni from across Pakistan, and most of the over 200 Fulbright grantees, who would be proceeding to the US on scholarships this fall, attended the two-day conference organised by the United States Educational Foundation-Pakistan (USEFP).

According to a press release, the conference centred around the theme “dialogue between cultures.” Scholars from the United States, who are currently in-residence academics in other South Asian countries, also attended the event.

Fulbright is the flagship programme of all US government- funded academic and exchange programmes, Dr Grace Clark, executive director of USEFP, said.

“The goal of all the Fulbright programmes is to increase mutual understanding of the people of the US and other countries.

Acting deputy chief of mission at the US embassy James H. Williams spoke on the importance of cultural diplomacy in the US- Pakistan strategic partnership.