In a first, Meira Kumar to visit Pakistan

Giving a push to the people-to-people contact between India and Pakistan, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar is set to visit Islamabad for a five-day visit from February 21.

Giving a push to the people-to-people contact between India and Pakistan, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar is set to visit Islamabad for a five-day visit from February 21.

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Top officials claim this will be the first-ever official visit by an Indian LS speaker to Pakistan's National Assembly.

The invitation from Pakistan had come in 2011 with invites for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chief Sonia Gandhi. While the PM and Gandhi have not yet decided on their visit, Kumar's trip is aimed to forge better ties between the two parliaments and the people across the border.

Both India and Pakistan currently have women speakers in their Parliament's lower house.

Last year, Pakistan Speaker Fehmida Mirza had visited India and met Kumar on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association meet in Trinidad and Tobago. Last month, a delegation of Indian parliamentarians had visited Pakistan on a goodwill mission.

Kumar's visit also coincides with the India-Pakistan bilateral talks getting momentum as commerce minister Anand Sharma is going to Pakistan to boost bilateral trade.