Islamabad: A 16-member Sri Lankan delegation, including government officials, Buddhist community leaders, and academics, has arrived in Pakistan for an eight-day tour aimed at strengthening bilateral relations and advancing cooperation in Gandhara heritage, archaeology, education, and cultural preservation.

According to Press Information Department, the delegation consists of notable figures such as Dr. E. A. Senarath Dissanayake, Director General of Sri Lanka’s Department of Archaeology, and Mrs. Dilrukshi Dias Wickramasinghe, the 46th Solicitor General of Sri Lanka. The tour is led by Mr. Deeptha Wickramaratna, President of the Bodhi Dhamma Buddhist Association, Australia. The visit is coordinated by Mr. Imran Shauket of the Prime Minister’s Taskforce on Gandhara, under the guidance of Federal Minister for National Heritage and Culture, Mr. Aurangzeb Khan Khichi.

The delegation was welcomed at the Pakistan National Council of the Arts by Federal Minister Mr. Khichi and other officials. A notable event was the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Hazara University, Pakistan, and Nagananda International Buddhist University, Sri Lanka. This agreement aims to facilitate student and faculty exchanges, joint research, and heritage preservation efforts.

The first day included a visit to the Islamabad Museum, where the delegation explored archaeological collections related to Pakistan’s Gandhara civilization. The tour will be documented by Sri Lankan media for a television series to be broadcast in Sri Lanka.

The itinerary includes meetings with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, visits to archaeological sites in Taxila, Takht-i-Bahi, Peshawar, and Swat, and further plans for an MoU between the University of Swat and Nagananda International Buddhist University to enhance academic and archaeological collaboration.