J&K: 3 Kashmir varsities end MOUs with US NGO after ‘security concerns’

SRINAGAR: Three universities in Kashmir have terminated academic agreements with a US-based NGO, Kashmir Care Foundation (KCF), following internal reviews amid a buzz that intelligence agencies had flagged concerns over its activities.

University of Kashmir, Islamic University of Science and Technology (IUST) and Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir (SKUAST-K) issued orders cancelling MOUs with the Atlanta-based KCF. University of Kashmir and SKUAST-K did so on March 25 and IUST the following day.

Naseer Iqbal, University of Kashmir’s registrar, wrote to KCF president Altaf K Lal pointing out that the MoU was executed between on Dec 15, 2025, “with the objective of furthering educational initiatives through-workshops, seminars and other academic engagements in STEM (science, tech, engineering, mathematics) humanities and related fields”.

Officials said the terminations followed “adverse reports”, underscoring growing caution over collaborations with foreign institutions, especially in areas like technology, research, and data sharing.

“The MoU has been reviewed by competent authorities and it has been determined that continuation is not in the larger institutional interest of the university,” the registrar’s letter states.

Registrar Iqbal said KCF was run by Altaf, a Kashmiri based in the US, adding the MOU had a termination clause. “We decided on our own to terminate it as we thought it was not advisable (to continue) due to so many reasons,” Iqbal said, declining to go into specifics.

The three varsities made it clear that no money was exchanged, nor liabilities created, during the MOU period.
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