PATNA: Chief minister Nitish Kumar returned on Saturday after his weeklong visit to Pakistan and was happy over the successful and fruitful journey during which he interacted with officials and leaders of different parties of the neighbouring country.
Nitish began his Pakistan visit with floral tributes to Pakistan's `Rashtrapita' Mohammad Ali Jinnah in Karachi and rounded off the tour by paying respect to great saint Hazrat Data Saheb Ganj Bakhsh in Lahore where he also visited the mausoleum of great philosopher and Urdu poet Dr Sir Mohammad Iqbal who penned the famous patriotic song "Saare jehan se achchha Hindustan hamara".
The CM, who was accorded a warm welcome generally reserved for the head of the government by the chief ministers of Sindh and Punjab provinces and an unscheduled reception by President Asif Ali Zardari in Islamabad, lobbied hard for people-to-people contact between the two nations. Knowing well that the families in Pakistan have their relatives in India particularly in northern states and vice versa, Nitish said there were growing aspirations among people of India and Pakistan that the relation between the two countries should be cordial based on peace and trust. There is a need to enhance the exchange of cultural delegations, he said.
"I met a cross section of political leaders and everyone favoured cordial ties between the two countries. A fresh atmosphere of friendship should be created," the CM said while talking to newsmen on return to Patna. Nitish returned to India via Wagah border on Friday. The CM recalled his address at Government College University in Lahore and said, "When I expressed my views why we should fight instead of jointly waging a war for elimination of poverty and hunger, the entire hall reverberated with thunderous applause."
In a rare gesture, President Zardari hosted a dinner in his honour on Diwali day when he came to know about the festival. Originally, the dinner that evening was scheduled to be hosted by the foreign ministry.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is currently touring Pakistan after getting invitations from Islamabad as well as the provincial governments of Sindh and Punjab. President Asif Ali Zardari hosted a special dinner for Nitish and his delegates on Tuesday after learning that the day also coincided with Diwali, the Hindu festival of light.
Nitish Kumar had earlier spoken to a Hindu panchayat and also shared with officials in Sindh his experience in improving governance and law and order situation in his own state. He also praised the Pakistan government's flagship poverty alleviation scheme called the Benazir Income Support Programme and said India could learn from its neighbour. The JD(U) leader said, in an observation, that besides the regular talks between New Delhi and Islamabad, there should also be communication between places like Lahore and Amritsar and Patna and Karachi.
Nitish Kumar's suggestion of talks between Lahore and Amritsar and Patna and Karachi is a valuable one. We engage in city-to-city talks and cooperation talks with many countries (like those between sister cities). Why can't that be possible in south Asia? In the subcontinent, the people of Kolkata and Dhaka are culturally more closer than say those between Kolkata and New Delhi. Chennai perhaps will find more things in common with Colombo than Mumbai. Hence, when already there is an existing commonality between sovereign territories, why do we prefer adversity over mutual bonhomie? The game of politics has left us incapacitated.
