LAHORE, June 8: As many as 1,190 Indian Sikh pilgrims, including women and children, arrived here by a special train via Wagah border on Tuesday. The Sikhs are scheduled to attend a three-day Jore Mela at Dera Sahib near the Lahore Fort from June 14 to 17.

The mela is held annually in connection with the death anniversary of their spiritual leader Guru Arjun Dev Jee. Sikh pilgrims from other countries are also expected to arrive in a couple of days.

Head of the pilgrims, Sardar Dilbar Singh, while talking to reporters thanked both the Indian and Pakistan governments for allowing them to attend the Mela. "We are excited," he said and added: "Constant meetings and free interaction between the people of the two countries is the only way to shrink distances and misunderstandings."

He hoped the new Indian government would do more for the ongoing peace process. Officials of the Evacuee Trust Properties Board, including additional secretary Izharul Hasan and deputy director (shrines) Fraz Abbas, and chairman of the Pakistan Gurdwara Parbhandak Committee, Sardar Sham Singh, greeted them at the border.

The pilgrims later reached the Dera Sahib and participated in the religious ceremonies. Some 1,000 Sikhs and Hindus from different parts of the country have also reached the Dera Sahib to attend the Mela.

The Sikh pilgrims would leave for Gurdwara Janam Asthan Nankana Sahib on Wednesday, Saccha Soda in Farooqabad on Thursday, Panja Sahib in Hasan Abdal on Friday and return to Dera Sahib on June 13.