AVA- He said the aim of his visit to Kashan is to prepare the grounds for mutual scientific cooperation and provide suitable conditions for Afghan students studying in Iran.
He also called for joint research cooperation and holding educational workshops.
Khwaja Umari pointed to cultural commonalties between Iran and Afghanistan and expressed the hope that by using Iranian universities' scientific capabilities, academic situation in Afghanistan could improve.
He said that development in Afghanistan is tied to its scientific progress and added that the sole way to get rid of current situation and solving problems of the country is to augment people's knowledge level.
The Afghan minister said that security in Afghanistan helps security in Iran and Pakistan, so development, prosperity and tranquility in Afghanistan would be beneficial to its neighbors.
He said there are 38 public universities and institutes, more than 130 private centers and colleges in Afghanistan with around 300,000 students and 3,000 to 5,000 professors.
Kashan University chancellor Abbas Zera't presented a report on activities of the university.
He said that currently the university has 500 foreign students and has carried out 70 international programs.
Kashan University has around 7,500 students in 154 fields at graduate, post graduate and Ph.D. levels.
Kashan city with a population of 365000 is located 200 kilometers north of Isfahan.