Indian Punjab CM wants to attend Lahore moot, doubts BJP will allow Pakistan visit

Indian Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has expressed a desire to attend the World Punjabi Conference in Lahore, saying he has received an invitation, while questioning whether the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government would allow him to visit Pakistan, according to a BBC report.

The fourth International Punjabi Conference is scheduled to take place in Lahore from November 27 to 29.

Addressing the Indian Punjab assembly, Mann said: “They do not even let me go to France or Japan. How will they let me go to Pakistan?”

In a video posted on his official YouTube channel, Mann said several poets from Indian Punjab would attend the conference. “I also want to go, because our roots are one, our problems are also similar,” he said.

Mann mentioned the invitation after reciting verses by Pakistani Punjabi poet Tajammul Kaleem. He said he had spoken to Pakistani Punjabi poet Baba Najmi and received the invitation, adding that people on both sides of the border shared a culture and should interact.

Assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan responded: “If you get permission, take us along as well.”

Other members of the assembly also voiced their support for the speaker’s remark.

Mann also called for the reopening of the Kartarpur Corridor, a site of religious significance to Sikhs.

Relations between India and Pakistan have remained strained since a four-day conflict last year, with trade and diplomatic engagement limited.