- South Asian University suspends Afghan scholarship over funding dispute.
- This dispute remains unresolved due to Afghanistan not making financial contribution.
- The university is considering online education, alternative funding.
South Asian University has currently stopped providing scholarships to Afghan students. The university says that this decision was not taken to target any one country, but to implement all the rules equally after the dispute over funding among SAARC member countries.
According to the university, Afghanistan has not been able to make the stipulated financial contribution to the university for the last several years. Bhutan raised objection on this issue and said that countries which are depositing their share on time should be treated equally. After this the university decided to stop scholarship of Afghan students
SAU President Prof. K.K. Aggarwal said that after Taliban came to power, there has been no official discussion on this matter from Afghanistan’s side. The Indian government has not yet given formal recognition to the Taliban government, so the university also could not establish any official dialogue on this issue. This is the reason why the dispute related to funding has not been resolved yet.
This facility will be provided
However, the university also made it clear that the doors of education have not been completely closed for Afghan students. If the Afghan administration agrees, then online education facility can be started especially for girl students. The university says it receives a large number of emails from Afghan students, especially women, who want to continue their education but are unable to do so due to restrictions on women’s education and visa issues.
According to media reports, Prof. Aggarwal says that development of any country is not possible as long as half of its population remains deprived of education. He said that the objective of SAARC is to promote regional cooperation and education, hence the university is ready to work on the option of online education.
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When can the facility start
The university also said that if any SAARC member country or any other organization is ready to make a financial contribution on behalf of Afghanistan, then scholarships for Afghan students can be restarted. Besides, an appeal has also been made to the Ministry of Education to consider providing scholarships through ICCR for Afghan students wishing to study in SAU.
Financial records of the university show that between 2021 and June 30, 2026, India was the largest contributor and contributed about US $ 65.9 million. This was followed by Bangladesh, Maldives, Bhutan and Nepal. Whereas Pakistan paid only once in 2025 after a gap of several years. According to the university, at present no student from Pakistan is enrolled in SAU.
According to media reports, 10 students from Afghanistan were studying in the university in the 2024-25 session, but despite receiving applications for the 2026 admission session, no Afghan student could take admission. In the new batch, students from India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have taken admission, whereas this time no students from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bhutan, Maldives and countries outside SAARC took admission.
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