BANGALORE, July 20: A two-year-old Pakistani girl may be discharged within a week from an Indian hospital following complex heart surgery, a doctor said on Sunday.

Noor Fatima has been freed from medical life-support and is currently being treated in the intensive care unit at Narayana Hrudayalaya hospital here, said Rajesh Sharma, the surgeon who mended the holes in Noor’s heart.

“She is doing very well and showing healthy signs of recovery,” Sharma told AFP. “She will be out of the intensive care unit by Monday and within a week she may be discharged.”

Noor was brought to Sharma by her parents, who on July 11 took the first bus between India and Pakistan in 18 months.

The baby has quickly emerged as a symbol of newfound hopes for reconciliation in South Asia.

Since her arrival in this southern Indian city of Bangalore Indians offered prayers for her quick recovery and visitors poured into the hospital offering flowers, cash and good wishes.

Noor suffers from Tetralogy of Fallot, a heart ailment common among children.—AFP