India's University Grants Commission has recommended Indians citizens against travelling to Pakistan for the purpose of seeking higher education, according to a public notice issued on Friday.

The notice said that any Indian national or overseas Indian citizen who intended to take admission in any Pakistani educational institute or degree programme would not be eligible for employment or higher education in India.

However, it added that migrants and their children who had received higher education in Pakistan would be eligible for seeking Indian employment, provided they were granted citizenship and obtained security clearance.

Deterioration in bilateral relations

The current deadlock in Pak-India relations can be traced back to 2019 when on Feb 26, Indian jets trespassed into Pakistani territory and dropped their payload in Balakot, bringing two nuclear-armed nations to the brink of war.

Pakistan's response the next day had led to the downing of two Indian jets and the capture of an Indian air force pilot whose fighter plane fell inside Pakistani territory after being struck.

The perpetually tense relations between the two countries suffered a further blow after India illegally annexed occupied Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, 2019. Pakistan had subsequently suspended trade ties with India until May 2020 when restrictions for the import of medicines and related materials were relaxed.

On Sunday, newly elected Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had penned a letter to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, calling on him to resolve the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in the "interest of mutual peace and prosperity" for India and Pakistan.

PM Shehbaz had called on Modi to collectively secure peace and work for the "progress and prosperity of our people".