‘Pak should not fight with its neighbours’

Lahore: Chief Minister of Pakistan’s Punjab province Maryam Nawaz on Thursday met a

group of Sikh pilgrims, mostly from India, and recalled that her father Nawaz Sharif had said that the country should not fight with its neighbours.

Some 2,400 Sikhs from India are currently visiting Pakistan to attend the Baisakhi festivities.

Maryam quoted her father and three-time former prime minister Nawaz Sharif as saying, “We should not fight with

our neighbours. We need to open our hearts for them,” while addressing the gathering at Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur.

On Thursday, the Sikh pilgrims reached Kartarpur Sahib to perform rituals at the Samadhi of the first Sikh guru Guru Nanak Dev. Maryam also planned her visit to meet the Sikhs gathered there.

Maryam, 50, is considered the political heir of Nawaz Sharif. She was elected as the first woman chief minister in Pakistan in February.

Maryam said this is the first time that Baisakhi festival is being celebrated in Pakistan at a government level.

“This is my Punjab and we are celebrating all minority festivals like Holi, Easter, and Baisakhi together,” she said.

She further said, “We wish to speak Punjabi here like the people of Indian Punjab. My grandfather, Mian Sharif, is from Jati Umra, Amritsar.