NEW DELHI/AJMER: Zardari has offered a donation of $1 million to the shrine of sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti at Ajmer.
The father-son duo spent around 35 minutes at the shrine. They were presented with gifts by the dargah caretakers, including a ring for Zardari. The Pakistani leader wrote in the visitor’s book that he felt at peace in the spiritual atmosphere at the shrine. He had last been at the shrine in 2003. Similarly, Bilawal Bhutto tweeted that it was “so spiritual and peaceful”.
Cricket Diplomacy
According to sources, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to allow cricket ties to be normalised and bilateral tours to be taken place again. He hoped that the Indian cricket team would soon visit Pakistan. If and when the Prime Minister does visit Pakistan, a resumed cricket tour to Pakistan could be a suitable platform for him for a quick trip, especially since cricket has always been an important instrument to conduct diplomacy in the subcontinent.
The shrill call of a peacock is a common sound in the lush environs of the bungalows of Lutyen’s Delhi. But, this time, a peacock wailed at an inopportune time - when Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari started to make his media statement following Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The shrill call made Zardari wince and pause for a second, before he resumed his poise and continued with his remarks.
Chisty’s Case
During the official lunch, Pakistan Interior Minister Rahman Malik had reportedly urged his Indian counterpart P Chidambaram to free 80-year-old Pakistani national and virologist Khalil Chisty, who is serving life imprisonment in an Ajmer Jail.
According to sources, Chidambaram informed that the matter was before the Supreme Court, which will hear an appeal on the case on Monday.
The Pakistani doctor was given a life term on January 31, 2011 by a trial court for a murder in Ajmer in 1992.