HIMACHAL WELCOMES RALLYING FOR COOPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF SAARC COUNTRIES

By: S R Pundir

1st SAARC Car Rally 2007 entered around 4 p.m. in the boundary of Himachal Pradesh and received grand welcome at the Yamuna bridge at Paonta Sahib. Residents of Paonta area including a large number of students, under the leadership of Mrs Amita Mahajan, SDM Paonta and Mr Avtar Singh Tari, Chairman, Paonta Municipal Council, welcomed the Car Rally in a traditional manner.

Car rally, comprising of around 30 vehicles and over 120 participants received warm welcome from the residents of Nahan town and senior officials of Haryana which includes DIG Police Ambala range, Deputy Commissioner and S.P. Police Ambala district. A function was organized in Hotel Black Mango at Kala Amb where tea was served to the participants. Special enthusiasm was noticed among the residents of Nahan area as Lt. Col. Kuldeep Singh Chauhan of Nahan is also taking part in this Car Rally. He is famous for taking part in the Car rallies.

The car rally started on 15th of March from the Cox Bazar in Bangladesh is having participants from all SAARC countries and will travel across Bangladesh, India, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakista, Shri Lanka and Maldives. The rally lwill cover a distance of over 8200 K.M. and will traverse varying terrain, over a 31 day period.

The main objectives of this rally are of reconnecting the countries of this sub continent and also reconnect the sub continent to the larger Asian neighbourhood. To improve regional transport, road infrastructure and connectivity for the better development of the SAARC countries were among the main objectives. The rally will be reaching at Delhi on April 1, 2007 where it will conclude after ceremonial flag off by the Heads of SAARC Nations on the 3rd of April.

Website of Saarc Rally