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Warm welcome for Indian cricket fans in Lahore

Visitors rue they have little time for sight-seeing or savouring Lahore delicacies

Lahore: Pakistanis on Sunday gave a warm welcome to hundreds of Indian fans who had come through the Wagah border to watch Monday's third one-day cricket international to be held at the Gaddafi Stadium here.

The visiting Indians, mainly from Punjab, Delhi and Gujarat, trickled in from the morning and had to wait for close to three hours to complete the formalities.

On this side of the border, a lot of placard-holding Pakistanis were seen standing to receive the visitors.

However, the fans, who have been given three days' visa to watch the match, rued the fact that the time allotted to them was too short for sight-seeing and savouring the delicacies of the historic city. Chandresh Shah said half their time was spent on travelling. ``We had to start early in the morning to be at the Wagah border in time. It took us around three hours to get the formalities done. We will have little time to look around Lahore as we will watch the match. Then we have to leave early on Tuesday morning to cross the border before 4 pm,'' he said.

Earlier three people were injured at Wagah when fans turned violent at the delay. An official said the three were taken to hospital with minor injuries after the fans started throwing stones. — PTI

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Warm welcome for Indian cricket fans in Lahore

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