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Zardari offers prayers at Ajmer Sharif | The visiting Pakistani President, Asif Ali Zardari, offered a grant of Rs. five crore on behalf of his government at the shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti Dargah in Ajmer on Sunday. Zardari offered his prayers at the Sufi shrine here along with his 23-year-old
son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari amidst tight security. Both Zardari and his son Bilawal
Bhutto offered 'chadars' at the dargah. Zardari, who had last visited Ajmer in
2005 along with his wife Benazir Bhutto, also wrote a message in the holy book.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, who accompanied Zardari to
the dargah here, offered a 'chadar' on behalf of Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan
Singh. Zardari earlier landed at Googhra helipad, which is 12 km away from Ajmer
and traveled in a bulletproof car to the Sufi shrine. His cavalcade comprised
of nearly 20 vehicles. Stringent security measures had been put in place for
Zardari's visit here. The district administration asked residents, whose houses
face the dargah to keep their windows shut during Zardari's visit and all the
shops dealing with pilgrimage items situated in the lane leading to the shrine
have been closed from 1.30 p.m. to and 6 p.m. Devotees had also been barred from
visiting the shrine from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Around 3,000 policemen were deployed
around the shrine and 80 police personnel stationed inside the dargah.
Zardari, earlier in the day, had very fruitful and constructive talks with Indian
Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh during his stopover in Delhi. Both sides expressed
satisfaction after the talks. Zardari, 56, was at the shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin
Chishti for nearly an hour before flying back to Pakistan. India and Pakistan,
which have fought three wars since their independence from British rule in 1947,
have been slowly trying to repair relations and agreed to resume formal peace
talks broken off in the wake of the Mumbai attack in 2008.
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