LONDON: Pakistan on Friday beat India in the race to become an associate member of Cern (European Organization for Nuclear Research), the world’s largest particle physics laboratory that recently found evidence of “God particle”.
A senior official of Cern had told TOI earlier in an exclusive interview in London that beauracratic red tape in India had slowed down the country’s intentions of joining Cern as an associate member.
On Friday, Cern director general Rolf Heuer and the chairman of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission Ansar Parvez signed in Islamabad in the presence of prime minister Nawaz Sharif, a document admitting Pakistan to Cern Associate Membership, subject to ratification by the government of Pakistan.
“Pakistan has been a strong participant in CERN’s endeavours in science and technology since the 1990s,” said Rolf Heuer. “Bringing nations together in a peaceful quest for knowledge and education is one of the most important missions of Cern. Welcoming Pakistan as a new associate member state is therefore for our organization a very significant event.”
