Iftikhar Arif becomes first non-Iranian member of Persian language academy 

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's famous Urdu poet and scholar Iftikhar Arif has been elected honorary member of Board of Governors of Academy for Persian Language and Literature (APLL), Iran.

Arif, who has headed the Pakistan Academy of Letters and the National Language Authority, is the first non-Iranian who is elected for this position. According to the notification Iftikhar Arif was elected for his long services for language, literature and culture in  Pakistan and Iran.

Iranian ambassador presented this notification to Iftikhar Arif at a ceremony in Islamabad on Tuesday. In the ceremony a large number of Iranian diplomats, scholars and National University of Modern Languages Rector Major General (r) Ziaudin Najam were also present. Iftikhar Arif thanked everyone involved for this honor.

Arif has also received the Hilal-e-Imtiaz, Sitara-e-Imtiaz and Presidential Pride of Performance awards, which are the highest literary awards given by the Government of Pakistan.