Let's relax visa restrictions: Badal to Pak counterpart

Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal has urged his Pakistan counterpart, Shahbaz Sharif, to discuss the issue of relaxing visa restrictions with the neighbouring country's Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif.

Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal has urged his Pakistan counterpart, Shahbaz Sharif, to discuss the issue of relaxing visa restrictions with the neighbouring country's Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif.

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Batting for stronger ties between India and Pakistan, Badal, in an interaction with Sharif over dinner on Friday, said relaxation of the visa regime would not only help in improving people-to-people contact, but also boost trade.

Shahbaz Sharif, also the younger brother of Nawaz Sharif, called for setting up a dedicated “trade and business estate” at the integrated check-post on the Wagah-Attari border.

Striking an emotional chord while addressing a dinner hosted by the Punjab Government at Nature Park, Shahbaz Sharif spoke about his family's background at Jati Umra village of Tarn Taran district: “We were brothers, are brothers and will remain brothers. Time has come to make our relationship stronger by putting talks of all inter-related areas on the fast track.”

Sharif also invited Badal to Lahore by reminding him of his old days at Forman Christian College, Lahore.