Amritsar hosts peace festival to strengthen bonds of Indo-PaK friendship

Amritsar, Nov.4 (ANI): Artistes from Pakistan participated in a peace festival to foster strong bonds of friendship between both countries in Amritsar.

The objective of the colourful Amritsar-Lahore Peace Festival was to strengthen bilateral relations through the medium of art and culture, and the event left the audiences spellbound.

Pakistani artiste Sai Zahur said: "This is the 9th year of this. Nine years back, we started this effort of Amritsar and Lahore peace festival and this time again, we have brought love, peace and harmony from Pakistan to India through our art form. We have brought the beautiful sounds of Pakistan to share with people here and I wish that this festival flourish in future."

Sufi artistes also exuded immense energy, as their performance paved the way to audiences' hearts.

Zahur added that India and Pakistan share common folklore and culture.

"I think that people wait for this festival because 9 years constantly, every year, we have performed here. We have brought the love of Pakistani people. What we share in Punjab, we share the language, we share our folklore and we have the same good looking landscape that all of us enjoy, so we come in peace and bring love and affection from Pakistan," said Zahur.

Jaspreet Kaur, a member in the audience, said: "We felt very nice specially listening to the folk music which is common in both India and Pakistan. The Lahore and Amritsar culture is same. It is a very good step initiated successfully since nine years and we enjoyed very much."

India and Pakistan have also introduced a project named 'Aman Ki Asha', a peace initiative between India and Pakistan.

In spite of the many contentious issues, India and Pakistan have made major strides in reducing the "trust deficit" over the past few years.

Earlier, New Delhi had suspended the peace process between the two sides after the commando-style militant attacks in India's commercial capital Mumbai, blaming Pakistan-based militants for the deaths of 166 people.

Since then officials from the two nations have met to improve ties but have shied away from resuming the so-called composite dialogue that included resolving key differences, including a dispute over the Himalayan territory of Kashmir. (ANI)