Rana on Saturday crossed over to India at the Attari border with a delegation — received by Punjab minister Bikram Singh Majithia. “Pakistani Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif could not make it to India due to health reasons. But the CM will shortly visit India,” said Rana. Trashing reports that had attributed the cancellation of Sharif’s visit to “other reasons”, the minister claimed all were “conspiracy theories”.
“Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik was already in India and the deliberations will pave way for greater trade and improved in bilateral relations. Culture, traditions and people of both Punjabs were similar,” he added.
Speaking on the occasion, Majithia said: “World Cup Kabaddi and mutual sports and cultural exchanges has begun a thaw and will go a long way to dismantle the bottlenecks between India and Pakistan.”
“Following the recent visit of Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal to Pakistan, both the Punjabs have proposed forming of joint committees for better trade relations. The ball has started rolling for meaningful trade relations between both the nations via the Attari-Wagha border. Now, it is up to Union governments of both India and Pakistan to maintain a positive momentum for mutual peace, prosperity and progress,” he added.