Bhagwant Mann Wants to Attend Lahore Moot
Indian Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has said he wants to attend the World Punjabi Conference in Lahore, telling the Indian Punjab assembly that organisers have invited him. The remarks, reported by the BBC and carried by Dawn, add a rare cultural note to a relationship between India and Pakistan that has been strained for months.
The 4th International Punjabi Conference is scheduled for November 27 to 29 in Lahore. Mann said many poets from Indian Punjab would travel to the conference, and he wanted to join them.
Mann made the remarks on Friday while addressing the Indian Punjab assembly. He recited verses by Pakistani Punjabi poet Tajammul Kaleem before raising the invitation. He said he had spoken to Pakistani Punjabi poet Baba Najmi and received the invitation through him.
A wish, not a confirmed visit
Mann was clear that he doubted he would be allowed to travel. “They do not even let me go to France or Japan. How will they let me go to Pakistan?” he said, in a jibe at the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in New Delhi.
Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan replied with a joke that drew support in the house. “If you get permission, take us along as well,” Sandhwan said, as other members voiced agreement.
Mann has expressed a wish and claimed an invitation. He has not announced a confirmed visit, and no permission from New Delhi has been reported. Readers should not treat the remarks as a travel plan.
Mann also used the occasion to demand the reopening of the Kartarpur corridor, which is sacred to Sikhs. The corridor links Sikh pilgrims with Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, Pakistan, and its status has long been a sensitive point in cross-border ties.
Why Bhagwant Mann’s Lahore wish matters
The World Punjabi Conference brings together poets, writers, and scholars who work in Punjabi on both sides of the border. For Lahore, hosting the fourth edition is a cultural event with a clear local angle: the city has long been a centre of Punjabi literature.
Mann put the case for attending in cultural terms. “I also want to go, because our roots are one, our problems are also similar,” he said in a video posted on his official YouTube channel. He added that people on both sides of the border shared a culture and should interact.
That message landed with social media users in both countries, who called Mann’s wish pleasant despite the chill in ties, according to the BBC report.
Ties remain strained
The broader context is stark. Ties between India and Pakistan have been extremely strained since a four-day battle last year, with limited trade and diplomatic contact. Cultural exchanges have not been immune to that freeze, which is why a chief minister publicly asking to attend a Lahore event carries weight.
India-Pakistan exchanges have often run through third channels when official contact stalls. Khawaja Asif’s criticism of a British minister over shoe etiquette in Istanbul showed how quickly a diplomatic moment can turn into a public row, while Islamabad has pushed back against claims about its security stance in a separate regional dispute.
Trade is another area where the freeze bites. India’s duty-free access has raised questions for Pakistan’s GSP Plus standing. A poets’ conference will not change that picture, but it can keep a channel open.
Pakistan has also sought road links to Central Asia through China, part of a wider search for connectivity that does not depend on the eastern border.
What to watch next
The next sign to watch is whether New Delhi responds to Mann’s remarks at all. Silence would leave the invitation as a gesture. A refusal would confirm the limits Mann himself described. Permission, which Mann doubts, would turn a cultural wish into a rare cross-border visit.
If Mann does travel, it would be a notable moment in a year of strain. If he does not, his remarks will still stand as a public reminder that Punjabi culture crosses a border that politics has closed.
When is the World Punjabi Conference in Lahore?
The 4th International Punjabi Conference is scheduled for November 27 to 29 in Lahore.
Did Bhagwant Mann confirm he will attend?
No. Mann said he wants to attend and claimed organisers invited him, but he doubted the BJP-led government in New Delhi would let him visit. No permission has been reported.
Who invited Mann, according to his remarks?
Mann said he spoke to Pakistani Punjabi poet Baba Najmi and received the invitation, and he raised the matter after reciting verses by Pakistani Punjabi poet Tajammul Kaleem.
