Date:07/08/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/08/07/stories/2006080704381200.htm

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Peace convention postponed

Nirupama Subramanian

ISLAMABAD: Organisers of a three-day convention on peace in South Asia scheduled to begin in Lahore on Sunday had to put off the event as the Pakistan Interior Ministry did not grant the Indian delegation clearance for visas.

"We were trying till yesterday but we could not get clearance from the Interior Ministry for the Indian delegates," said organiser Saeeda Deep of the Lahore-based Institute of Peace and Secular Studies.

Ms. Deep said the Ministry had promised clearance for the delegates within the next few weeks, and she hoped to hold the convention on "Visa Free, Nuclear Free and Peaceful South Asia" in early September.

But she said the timing would be lost as the convention had originally been planned for the anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima-Nagasaki.

In the 182-strong Indian delegation awaiting clearance are Magsaysay Award winner Sanjay Pandey and well-known filmmaker Ananad Patwardhan.

More than 200 participants from Pakistan were also expected to attend the convention.