Curtin University Colombo Welcomes Pakistan’s High Commissioner: Building New Pathways for Students

Curtin University Colombo (CUC) recently welcomed His Excellency Major General (Retd.) Dr. Nayyar Naseer, HI(M), PhD, High Commissioner of Pakistan to Sri Lanka, for a strategic discussion on deepening educational ties between the two nations. He was accompanied by Mr. Adeel Sattar, Press, Culture & Education Attaché at the High Commission.

The visit marks a significant step in CUC’s ongoing efforts to build meaningful international partnerships and expand access to globally recognised education for students across the region — including a growing community of prospective students from Pakistan.

A Conversation Rooted in Shared Opportunity

His Excellency was received by Professor Mahesha Kapurubandara, Vice-President – International Strategy & Engagement, together with a cross-section of CUC’s senior leadership: Mr. Uditha Gamage, Chief Operating Officer; Ms. Piritha Kanagasabathy, Senior Operations Leader; Ms. Anjalie Gamage, Head of Academics; Ms. Kisagothami Pathirana, Senior Manager – Student Services & Outreach; and Ms. Shabnam Kowdu, Head of Marketing & Strategic Outreach.

The breadth of representation in the room reflected the scope of the discussion. Conversations spanned academic collaboration, cultural exchange, and at the centre of it all, how to create more accessible pathways for Pakistani students to pursue an internationally recognised Curtin degree without having to travel as far from home.

A Youthful Nation, A Growing Opportunity

Pakistan is the world’s fifth most populous country, home to over 250 million people — and one of the youngest populations on the planet. Nearly two-thirds of Pakistanis are under the age of 30, with tens of millions falling within the prime higher-education age bracket. That scale of youth represents an extraordinary talent pool: millions of students entering the years where decisions about university and career paths are made, at a time when demand for globally recognised, future-focused education is only growing.

For a country with this demographic weight, access to top-tier international education close to home matters enormously. It’s exactly where opportunities like this one come in – a top 1% globally ranked university, within reach in South Asia, offering Pakistani students a Curtin degree without the cost and distance of studying further afield. Partnerships like this are how that opportunity starts to take shape

Why This Matters

For Sri Lanka’s international education sector, partnerships like this one signal something bigger than a single meeting: a shift toward positioning Colombo as a regional hub for quality, globally benchmarked higher education. For Curtin Colombo specifically, it reinforces a proposition the university has been building toward; the same Curtin degree, the same academic standards and global recognition, delivered closer to home for students across South Asia.

Diplomatic engagement of this kind also opens doors that go beyond student recruitment. It lays the groundwork for institutional cooperation, potential scholarship pathways, and cultural exchange initiatives that benefit both countries’ education systems over the long term.

Looking Ahead

Discussions like this one are early steps in what CUC hopes will become a deeper, sustained relationship between the university and Pakistan’s diplomatic and education community. As those conversations progress, the university’s focus remains the same: making world-class education more accessible to students, wherever they call home.

Building global partnerships. Making everyone’s tomorrow better.

Curtin University Colombo (CUC) is Curtin University’s own campus in Sri Lanka, offering Foundation, undergraduate, and postgraduate programs to students from across the region.