A delegation of 19 girls from Pakistan who were in Chandigarh to take part in a youth festival, left for home on Monday feeling “overwhelmed” by Indian hospitality.
The girls had reached the city last Tuesday, on a seven-day visit to take part in the 11th Global Youth Peace Festival, which concluded on Monday evening.
After the Indian Army carried out surgical strikes across the LoC, parents of the girls had expressed concerns about their welfare in India and the event's organisers had indicated that they may head back home earlier than scheduled.
But Pramod Sharma, the event's organiser, said that after the Indian authorities, including the Ministry of External Affairs, assured them that they should not worry about the girls while they are here, their trip went as per schedule.
Today, the Pakistani girls and one male member of the delegation left for home. They were sent back home in a bus from here and the crossed over to Pakistan from the Wagah border.Pramod Sharma
On 1 October, head of the delegation Aliya Harir, who runs a cross-border peace initiative Aghaz-e-Dosti, had spoken to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, and she had assured them all assistance.
This is the heartwarming exchange that followed between her and Sushma Swaraj.
After the surgical strikes, Chandigarh police had further strengthened security for the Pakistani girls.
For most of the girls, who came under the banner of Pakistan's Girls for Peace Group, this was their first visit to India.
(With inputs from PTI)
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