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Monday, Apr 18, 2005

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National

The Begum goes sightseeing

Mandira Nayar

"Humayun's Tomb is a beautiful testimony of our heritage"

A SHARED HERITAGE: Begum Sehba, wife of the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, coming out of the Humayun Tomb in New Delhi on Sunday. — PTI

NEW DELHI: While the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, and the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, were negotiating new common ground for the two countries, the First Lady of Pakistan, Begum Sehba, found some time to reflect on a bond that has linked the two countries — heritage.

Paying a visit to Delhi's ancient World Heritage Site, Humayun's Tomb, on Sunday afternoon, Begum Sehba, dressed in lime-green, might have only said "very good" in reply to camera crews that asked her to describe her visit to India, but her comments in the visitor's book summed up her sentiments. "It is a beautiful testimony of our heritage. The restoration work has certainly brought out the most effective and aesthetic features of the simple yet impressive monument," she wrote. She seemed interested in the history and architectural details of the monument and spent more than 20 minutes walking around the complex.

"She seemed very happy and listened very patiently to what the guide had to say. She was keen to know how many artisans it took to work out the detailing in the tomb. She also wanted to know how long it took to complete the work," an Archaeological Survey of India official said.

Security measures

Taking no chances with security, the Delhi police had sealed the Tomb complex to the public from 3 p.m. Begun Sehba went on to visit the capital's other World Heritage Site, the Qutab Minar.

Begum Sehba started her day by watching the one-day international match at the Ferozeshah Kotla Stadium with her husband. She then returned to the Pakistan High Commission for a while and went to the Rashtrapati Bhavan for lunch.

She was scheduled to visit the Red Fort in the Walled City of Delhi and the Cottage Industries on Janpath but the programmes were cancelled for unknown reasons.

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