FAISALABAD: Australian High Commissioner Neil Hawkins on Wednesday said that Pak-Australian ties would be cemented further in agri research sector to meet the challenge of food security in both countries.

During his visit to University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF), he addressed the meeting of university deans and directors. He said that although Pakistan was an agrarian country, yet it was facing multifarious challenges in this sector. The ground water in Pakistan was gradually decreasing which was a big challenge, he said and stressed the need to take benefit from the expertise and experimental of each other by exchanging delegations of Pakistani and Australian universities.

He said that Pakistan and Australia were enjoying cordial relations. However, these ties would be further strengthened in agriculture research to cope with the problems being faced by this sector due to climate changes, he added. Dean Faculty of Social Sciences UAF Dr. Sarfraz Hassan said that the UAF had the honor of being the first agricultural university in the subcontinent.

It was also ranked among top 100 universities in the world, he added. Later, the Australian High Commissioner also visited the research area of chickpea, citrus, mango, wheat and Center for Advanced Studies in agriculture and food security.

Country Manager Australian Center for International Agricultural Research Munawar Kazmi, Dean Faculty of Sciences UAF Dr Asghar Bajwa, Dean Faculty of Animal Husbandry Dr Qamar Bilal, Dean Faculty of Veterinary Sciences Dr Tariq Javed, Dean Faculty of Engineering Dr. Muhammad Irshad, Director ORIC Dr Jaffar Jaskani, Principal Officer PRP Dr. Muhammad Jalal Arif, Director General NIFSAT Dr. Imran Pasha, Dr. Ahmad Sattar, Dr. Anjum Zia, Dr. Khalid Bashir, Dr Samar Naqvi, Dr. Iftikhar Ahmed, Dr. Hammad Badr, Dr. Asim Aqeel, Dr. Ijaz Waraich, Dr. Zubair Aslam, Dr. Zulfiqar Ahmed, Dr. Shamsa Kanwal, Dr. Irshad Bibi, Dr. Muhammad Tayyab and others were also present on the occasion.