By Abid Hussain

For Nandita Gurjar, Senior Vice President, Infosys Technologies, her first trip to Pakistan has been quite a memorable experience but with one regret: “I was unable to shop at all due to the hectic itinerary.”

Gurjar is part of a nine-member delegation of IT CEOs from India, which is visiting Pakistan on a four-day visit as part of the Aman Ki Asha peace initiative, jointly launched by the Jang Group and The Times of India.

Her colleague, Prameela Kalive, who is Vice President and Business Head, Zensar Technologies, says that the fusion of culture she witnessed is most impressive. “While visiting Lahore, it was wonderful to see the classic architecture in the city which was a fusion of tradition and modernity yet steeped in history,” she told The News at a dinner hosted by the Jang Group at a local hotel in Karachi on Saturday.

Kalive added that she had heard about the popularity of food in Lahore but it was quite an experience when she actually tasted the food. She also expressed her desire to come back to the country and spend a longer duration of time.

G.D. Sharma, the only member of the delegation who had previously visited Pakistan, described the tour as quite fruitful. He said that utilising this platform, it was an opportunity for the two countries to build people-to-people interaction.

Sharma said, “Everywhere we have gone the amount of love and respect we received was overwhelming. Not once did we feel we are in another country as people met us in such a cordial manner it felt we are meeting our own family members.”

While speaking with The News, Ganesh Natarajan, Chairman Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) National Committee on IT & ITeS and CEO Zensar Technologies, was effusive in his praise and said he was keenly looking forward to come back to the country again. “We were able to spend some quality time in Lahore sightseeing aside from meeting with industry people and visiting Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). The amount of talent we saw is something we want to tap for the future as well as collaborate with organisations in Pakistan to provide them with guidance,” he elaborated.

Uma Ganesh, CEO Global Talent Track, explained that this visit by the Indian delegation was also about observing the culture and experiences in Pakistan, by which count the trip was quite successful. “We want to build on this platform and create a synergy which in the long run can improve relationships between India and Pakistan,” she said.

Gurjar agreed with her colleague and added, “The trip has been fabulous so far and it has provided us with an insight about the Pakistani culture and allowed us an opportunity to meet people here. The driver accompanying us kept us entertained and shared stories which let us interact with the common man,” she said.

“He told us that the boys here love copying Salman Khan, the famous Indian actor,” Gurjar said with a smile.