Nitish Kumar sets out for week-long tour of Pakistan

Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday left for a week-long tour of Pakistan at the invitation of chief ministers of Punjab and Sind provinces of the neighbouring country. He left for Delhi on Thursday morning from where he would fly to Pakistan via Dubai on Friday, officials in Patna said.

During his tour, Kumar would meet leaders of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement which has the support of migrant Muslims from Bihar, while his meetings with Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Raja Parvez Ashraf were yet to be confirmed, they said. The Chief Minister, who is leading a 12-member delegation of state ministers and officers, would share the state's growth story with parliamentarians and civil society members in Pakistan.

He would also go to a number of historical sites and the tour programme includes visits to the tomb of Mohammad Ali Jinnah, archaeological sites of Mohenjodaro and Takshila, Dera Saheb Gurudwara and the mausoleum of the Sikh ruler Maharaja Ranjit Singh adjacent to it. After meeting Punjab Governor Latif Khan Khosa on November 16, the delegation will return to India by road through the Wagah border.

During his tour, Nitish Kumar would meet leaders of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement which has the support of migrant Muslims from Bihar.

Scores of political and social workers wished him good luck for the trip. Among those who met him at his residence were Speaker Udai Narayan Chaudhary, Energy Minister Vijendra Prasad Yadav, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh, Information and Public Relation Department Minister Brishen Patel and Food minister Shyam Razak, an official release said.

(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest)