Now a steamer to Karachi — with Advani aboard

NEW DELHI, Feb 13: If the bus from Delhi is on a roll to Lahore, you may not have to wait for long for the steamer from Mumbai to Karachi...

NEW DELHI, Feb 13: If the bus from Delhi is on a roll to Lahore, you may not have to wait for long for the steamer from Mumbai to Karachi. And hold your breath, the first passenger to board the steamer may be none other than Union Home Minister L K Advani.

Though no formal proposal has yet been mooted by the Government in this regard, Advani did express his desire to visit Karachi when he talked to the Prime Minister a few days ago. Congratulating Vajpayee for his quick decision to visit Lahore, he is said to have told the PM: “Aap Lahore jaaye, mein Karanchi jaoonga. (You go to Lahore, I’ll go to Karanchi).

When contacted, a close aide of the Home Minister said Advani would certainly visit Karachi. But the details haven’t been finalised as yet. For Advani, it will be a dream fulfilled after 20 years. He was born and raised in Karachi and spent 12 years at the prestigious St Patrick’s Public School.

It was only 30 years after he migrated that he got to visit Karachi, as Information andBroadcasting Minister in the Morarji Desai government when he went to watch an India-Pakistan cricket match. Advani’s desire to visit Karachi doesn’t come as a surprise given the recent thaw in the peace process. He was the one who persuaded Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray to withdraw his threat, inaugurated the Indo-Pak hockey Test in New Delhi, visited the Pakistani cricket team on its first day in the capital and hosted a dinner.