NEW DELHI, May 2: In her death, as in life, Gandhian peace activist Nirmala Deshpande brought India and Pakistan closer on Friday, the presence of a high-level Pakistani delegation at her funeral becoming a catalyst for the bonding she tirelessly pursued.

Congress icon Rahul Gandhi said he was touched by the gesture and personally thanked Information Minister Sherry Rehman and her delegation for flying in late on Thursday night to be able to catch a last glimpse of Didi as she was called by most who knew her on both sides of the border.

“I can see a big void and there is no one around to fill it. Peace activism between India and Pakistan has suffered a major jolt,” Ms Rehman said in remarks to the Indian media. Ms Deshpande, who died in her sleep on Thursday at 79, was a charmer.

She would, for example, stay as the guest of Ms Rehman in Islamabad but invariably had plans to hold important meetings with President Pervez Musharraf, her host’s political foe.

“She may have even enjoyed stretching the patience of both. There was no choice but to indulge her because her mission was such.”

The apparent contrariness was the essence of Ms Deshpande’s worldview.

She worked hard to save Sarabjit Singh in Pakistan and Afzal Guru in India and with her mild-mannered tenacity she might even succeed, said a member of the Pakistani delegation. The two convicts have been on the death row their lives depending on executive clemency.

A statement by the Pakistan High Commission quoted Ms Rehman as telling the local media that Pakistan was committed to take forward the ongoing dialogue process with India as peace remained a pre-requisite for sustainable development and stability in the region.

According to the statement, Ms Rehman described Ms Deshpande’s demise as a great loss not only for India but also for Pakistan as she played a crucial role in consolidating and promoting a dialogue between the two neighbouring countries.

Ms Deshpande had greatly contributed, with the help of MPs from Pakistan, towards establishment of Pak-India Parliamentary Forum, the first in the region to make the peace process sustainable and irreversible, Ms Rehman said. “Such persons on either side of the border never die and Ms Deshpande’s life-long noble struggle for love, affection and peace among various cultures and faiths across the borders would always remind future generations of her valuable and selfless accomplishments.”

Ms Rehman expressed the resolve that Pakistan’s government and he fellow parliamentarians would encourage social and peace activists on both sides to continue carrying forward the noble mission to facilitate people-to-people contact between the two nations.

“Mr Rahul Gandhi specially thanked the government of Pakistan for sending a high-level delegation to share the grief,” the statement said.

Ms Rehman was accompanied by Mr Qamar Zaman Kaira, Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas, and a prominent PPP leader, Mr Manzoor Ahmad Chaudhry.