Summary The chief minister stressed the importance of interaction between people across the border, citing their shared cultural heritage
(Web Desk) - Indian Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has expressed his desire to visit Pakistan to attend the 4th International Punjabi Conference in Lahore, questioning whether the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government would allow him to travel to the neighbouring country.
Speaking during a session of the Indian Punjab Assembly, Mann said he had received an invitation from Pakistani Punjabi poet Baba Najmi to attend the conference, scheduled to take place in Lahore from November 27 to 29.
“They do not even let me go to France or Japan. How will they let me go to Pakistan?” Mann said, taking a swipe at the BJP-led government. He added that he wanted to visit Pakistan because people on both sides shared common roots and faced similar problems.
The chief minister stressed the importance of interaction between people across the border, citing their shared cultural heritage.
Supporting Mann’s wish, Indian Punjab Assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan urged him to take fellow lawmakers to Pakistan if permission for the visit was granted.
Mann also called for the reopening of the Kartarpur Corridor, which connects Dera Baba Nanak in India’s Punjab to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, Pakistan.
The corridor was suspended indefinitely by Indian authorities on May 7, 2025, following the Pahalgam attack and subsequent tensions between the two countries.
