Vintage cars to drive better Indo-Pak ties

For the first time, 40 vintage cars and 10 bikes from India will cross into Pakistan next month for a motor rally that would be joined by an equal number of vehicles here as part of a friendship drive.
The vintage vehicles from India will enter Pakistan through the Wagah border crossing on February 13 and will be escorted by Pakistani vintage cars to The India Show, a trade fair to be held at the Lahore International Expo Centre.
Indian diplomatic sources told PTI that the vehicles would be driven by their owners and put on display in Lahore. They will also participate in a car rally.

"It is a great venture. We have dreamt for it for long. It has huge significance and it would be joy for us to escort the cars from India," Shahzeb Malik, a Pakistani vintage car enthusiast and owner, told PTI.
He and members of the Vintage and Classic Car Club of Pakistan will be at Wagah to receive the Indian guests.
Many people here hope that once the event is successfully held, another rally could be organised for which Pakistani vintage cars could travel to India.

Commerce Minister Anand Sharma will visit Pakistan for The India Show.
His visit to Pakistan has created immense buzz in the corridors of power in Islamabad, with many hoping this would pave the way for a trip by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Trade relations between India and Pakistan have received a push since Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif visited New Delhi in December.
With trade being the new focus area for the two countries, the Indian High Commission yesterday organised a maiden workshop aimed at familiarising Pakistani businessmen with the liberalised visa regime.
"In the recent past, there has been a significant increase of travel from Pakistan to India. This is a trend which began in 2004 and on the whole continued up to the present," Indian High Commissioner T C A Raghavan said.
He said the mission is aiming for easier and faster visa processing and will incorporate biometric technology to the web-based process in coming months for visa application.