Mumbai journalists to visit Pakistan this week
ISLAMABAD: A 15-member delegation of the Mumbai Press Club representing the print and electronic media will be visiting Pakistan on the invitation of Karachi Press club for a week starting November 23.
Mumbai Press Club is a leading association of media persons in India with more than 3,000 members.
The delegation is scheduled to arrive in Karachi on Saturday and will also visit Islamabad and Lahore next week.
During its three-day stay in Karachi the delegation will call on the Chief Minister of Sindh and interact with representatives of a cross-section of the Pakistani society including media persons, peace activists, trade union leaders and members of the business community.
From Karachi the delegation will proceed to the capital city where it will meet leaders of key political parties. It will also call on PM’s advisor on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The delegation has also requested a meeting with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif but it is not confirmed.
The delegation will travel to Lahore and attend a function organised by the Lahore Press Club before returning to India on November 29. A meeting with Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif is also on the agenda.
The first-ever exchange of visits between Pakistani and Indian journalists was organised by the Karachi and Mumbai Press Clubs in November 2011 and 2012 respectively as a media initiative to improve bilateral relations.
The upcoming visit is an important part of efforts to increase people-to-people contact between the two neighbouring countries, to promote cooperation and foster better understanding between media organisations. Role of media on both sides of the divide is considered crucial in framing bilateral issues. Such visits provide an opportunity for a candid discourse across the board which helps shed the inherent national biases and in countering misconceptions at both ends.
Pakistan’s High Commissioner to India Salman Bashir is said to have had a useful exchange of views at a gathering organised by the Mumbai Press Club during a recent visit to Mumbai.
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