14 March 2004	Sunday	22 Muharram 1425

LAHORE, March 13: The visiting East Punjab Tourism, Health, Family Welfare and Labour Minister Ashwani Sekhri has said that people of both the Punjabs would benefit from the normalization of Indo-Pakistan relations.

Stressing the need for promoting people-to-people contact between the people of both the Punjabs Mr Sekhri said at a press conference at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry here that they were bound with more than 5000 years old cultural, folklore and linguistic bonds.

Mr Sekhri, who is here in connection with the Indo-Pakistan theatre festival, said frequent visits of the people would revive the fraternal bonds lying severed for the past 50 years as culture could not be divided.

He said mutual trade was beneficial for both the Punjabs as they were located far from seaports.

He said Pakistanis could benefit from the agricultural research and information technology advancement in India. "We get three to four crops a year and have a much higher per acre yield," he added.

About the IT sector, he said students from the Indian Punjab were being picked by the US companies. Pakistani students could benefit from Indian students and get chances for employment in the US, he continued.

He said the process of normalization of relations should start with frequent exchanges of delegations from different sections of society. Trade relations would improve automatically. Tourism should also be encouraged as a very large number of people wanted to visit their pre-partition homes. It would generate employment opportunities, he claimed.

He said Chief Minister Sardar Amrinder Singh had already launched the process by inviting a delegation of Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry to his home at Patiala. "I extend invitation to the Lahore Press Club to visit East Punjab on behalf of the Chandigarh Press Club."

Mr Sekhri said he could not comment on restrictions on issue of visa to India and issue of city specific visas instead of country visas because it was a federal subject. He was, however, hopeful that visa restrictions would ease with increase in mass contact between the two countries.

Earlier, Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Mian Anjum Nisar said the LCCI delegation was received warmly during its recent visit to India.

He said the Indian Punjab chief minister had offered cooperation in all sectors. However, certain restrictions existed in free movement of the people, documents and goods between India and Pakistan which were expected to be removed in the wake of South Asia Free Trade Agreement.

East Punjab Technical Education and Industrial Training Minister Mohinder Singh Kay Pee and Punjab Information and Communication Technology Corporation chairman Dr Raj Kumar accompanied Mr Sekhri during his visit to the LCCI.