New Delhi: South Asian University will hold its second convocation at Pravasi Bhartiya Kendra, Chanakyapuri in New Delhi on 12 June.

The convocation will be presided over by Ambassador of Nepal to India Deep Kumar Upadhayay, while MJ Akbar, Minister of State for External Affairs, Govt. of India will be the chief guest.

The newly elected SAARC Secretary General Amjad Hussain B Sial will also be present at the event along with Professor Abdul Mannan, Chairman, UGC Bangladesh and other members of SAU’s statutory bodies from around the South Asian region.

A total of 185 students will be conferred Masters and MPhil degrees in various programmes that include Applied Mathematics, Biotechnology, Computer Science, Development Economics, International Relations, Legal Studies and Sociology.

Eleven programme toppers will be honoured with the SAU Gold Medal. Students from all the eight SAARC countries will be present at the convocation. Out of the total number of graduates, 21 are from Afghanistan, 28 from Bangladesh, one from Bhutan, one from Maldives, 16 from Nepal, 11 from Pakistan and 3 from Sri Lanka while the rest 104 are from India. Nine students will get their MPhil degrees — one each from Sri Lanka and Afghanistan and seven from India.

South Asian University was established by the governments of the eight SAARC nations.

The university took off in 2010 with two Master’s Degree Programmes.

Today, SAU offers seven Master’s and an equal number of doctoral programmes.

The construction of the permanent campus of the South Asian University is going on in Maidan Garhi in New Delhi.

In his speech as the chief guest in the last convocation of SAU, Retd. General VK Singh, Minister of State for External Affairs, Govt. of India, re-iterated India’s commitment in bearing the entire capital cost to set up the campus.