First Woman Chief Minister of Jammu & Kashmir Mehbooba Mufti on Thursday joined thousands of devotees assembled in the holy shrine of Baba Dalip Singh Manhas, popularly known as Baba Chamliyal, located close to the zero line of the International Border in Ramgarh sector of Samba district and prayed for strengthening bonds of friendship between the two neighboring countries.
Accompanied by BJP MP Jugal Kishore, Industries Minister Chandra Prakash Ganga, MoS Tourism Priya Sethi and senior police and civil officers she offered ‘holy cloth’ (chaddar) at the shrine before seeking blessings inside the sanctum sanctorum.
Senior Pakistani Rangers accompanied by a team of local civilian officers from Sialkote led by Sector Cdr Brigadier Wasim Jaffar Bhatti crossed the zero line before offering traditional ‘chaddar’ to be placed inside the sanctum sanctorum on behalf of devotees from Sialkote.
The Indian delegation was led by BS Kasana DIG BSF SHQ Jammu and Sheetal Nanda IAS/District Magistrate Samba.
Pak delegation was received at Zero line by Commandant BSF in force tradition and presented a guard of honour to Sector Cdr Pak Rangers. In return BSF Officials along with other Officers handed over “Shakkar (holy clay)and Sharbat (holy water) to Pak Rangers for further distribution to devotees in Pakistan.
During the sector commander level meeting both sides assured each other to maintain peace and tranquility in the border area.
Meanwhile, felicitating the people on both sides of the border for exhibiting affectionate cultural bonding during the Mela, the Chief Minister said Chamliyal village would be developed as a part of the Government’s initiative to promote border tourism in the State. She also pitched for opening new cross-border meeting points to expand people-to-people contact in the region.
The Chief Minister said cultural affinity across the two regions is too strong to resist. “I hope our good intentions are reciprocated by our neighbour,” she said and added that people-to-people contact should be encouraged to remove mistrust and create a congenial atmosphere for dialogue and reconciliation.