May 8, 2003	Thursday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 5, 1424

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LAHORE, May 7: Pakistan’s first 12-member parliamentary delegation will leave here for New Delhi on Thursday for a week-long visit to India as part of efforts to promote peace and friendship between the two neighbours.

The visit has been arranged on the initiative of the Pakistan-India People’s Forum for Peace and Democracy and the delegates would cross the Wahgah border at around 12 noon.

The visit is part of the efforts for the past few weeks to build confidence at the people-to-people level between the two nations.

“The delegation consists of four senators and eight members of the National Assembly representing the four provinces of the country,” MNA Ishaq Khakwani, who is coordinating the visit, said. He added the parliamentarians would return home on May 15 or 16.

The members of the delegation include Senator Shujaul Mulk (NWFP), Senator Dr Shahzad Waseem (Punjab), Senator Dr Khalid Ranjha (Punjab), Senator Roshan Barocha (Balochistan), MNA Dr Syed Ghazi Gulab Jamal (FATA), MNA Shakeela Rashid (Punjab), MNA MP Bhandara (Sindh), MNA Akhtar Khan (Punjab), MNA Sardar Salim Khan Mazari (Sindh), MNA Sherry Rehman (Sindh), MNA Javed Ali Shah (Sindh) and MNA Ishaq Khan Khakwani (Punjab).

Jawed Naqvi adds from New Delhi: The Indian government is not involving itself with the visit but peace groups involved are going ahead anyway, informed sources said.

They said the members of the delegation will make their own arrangements to stay in India where they plan to visit Ajmer, Mumbai and Hyderbad.

Many Indian MPs, including current ministers Sushma Swaraj and Vijay Goel, were accorded a warm reception in Islamabad and Lahore just days before the Lahore summit when they met several government ministers and other hosts.

Indian officials, however, said the government was not involved in this week’s visit in any way. The visitors are not required to have visas under a Saarc protocol, the officials said.