President General Pervez Musharraf has conferred on a renowned Russian orientalist Dr Ludmila Vassilieva - the Pakistan Civil award of "Sitara-i-Imtiaz" in recognition of her outstanding services in the field of scholarship in Urdu literature.
The award was given at a special investiture ceremony held at the Embassy of Pakistan in Moscow on Wednesday, said a message received here on Thursday.
Pakistan's Ambassador Mustafa Kamal Kazi conferred the award on the Russian scholar on behalf of the President. A large number of Russian scholars, educationists and journalists attended the ceremony.
The ambassador on this occasion said it was rare distinction for a Russian scholar to have complete command over the Urdu language. He appreciated the tremendous services and contribution of Dr Ludmila to promoting Urdu literature in Russia and maintaining valuable links between Pakistan and Russia.
Dr Ludmila Vassilieva said Urdu was a sweet language for which she had deep love. She expressed gratitude to President Musharraf for honouring her by awarding 'Sitara-i-Imtiaz'. She further said she always aimed at promoting good friendly relations between the two countries.
Dr Ludmila Vassilieva is a Senior Research Associate at the Department of Oriental Literature - Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences who had visited Pakistan on a number of occasions and delivered lectures on different aspects of Urdu literature at the Academy of letters, Hamdard University, National Language Authority and Karachi University.
As a scholar and critic, she regularly contributes on South Asian Literature to the Russian and English journals. Dr Ludmila's books 'The Righteous Mutineer: Altaf Hussain Hali, Poet and Enlightener of Indian Musulmans' 1997 and Faiz Ahmad Faiz: Life and Works, 2002, are considered as high quality reference books on the subject.