QUETTA  -  Balochistan Caretaker Chief Minister Mir Ali Mardan Khan Domki on Thursday said that Gandhara culture is signifi­cant in Pakistan’s international identity. In Balochistan, the measures for the protection of places containing ancient civili­sation are being made effective and frequent and in this con­text, the proposals of the Prime Minister’s Task Force for Gand­hara will be reviewed and the ongoing steps will be further improved. He expressed these views while talking to Dr Ra­mesh Kumar, the Caretaker Fed­eral Minister of State and Chair­man of the Prime Minister’s Task Force for Gandhara here.

Caretaker Chief Minister Mir Ali Mardan Khan Domki said that the work is going on under the comprehensive plan to make the initiatives lasting for the im­provement of communication links, easy access, and provision of basic facilities to remote tour­ist places of Balochistan.

The government is trying to adopt a comprehensive and inte­grated strategy in this regard that has lasting results, he noted. The CM termed the ancient Gandhara civilisation as a mirror of endur­ance, tolerance, and brotherhood and appreciated the position of Dr Ramesh Kumar that the presence of Gandhara archeology in all the federal units of the country helps in promoting national unity. He said that by connecting the federal capital Islamabad with the capitals of Buddhist-majority countries by air route under the Gandhara Cor­ridor, a large number of interna­tional tourists will visit Pakistan.

In the meeting, the Patron-in-Chief of Pakistan Hindu Council, Dr Ramesh Kumar informed the Caretaker chief minister about the details of his proposed Gandhara Corridor project and told that the ancient relics of Gandhara civilisation are lo­cated in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, five in Sindh, one in Balochistan, ten in Punjab and four located in Gilgit-Baltistan.

He said that in ancient times, the area of present Islamabad was also an important part of Gandhara, saying that according to archaeologists, the ancient cave located in Roghan, Gondra­ni city of Balochistan was built by the followers of Buddhism in the seventh century AD, out of about fifteen hundred ancient caves, only five hundred are now in good condition.

On this occasion, Dr Ramesh Kumar expressed his special gratitude to the Balochistan gov­ernment for the protection of the Hindu minority community in various places of the province including Kalat, and for the ex­cellent maintenance of Hinglaj Mata Mandir. Caretaker CM Balo­chistan has given the Pakistan Hindu Council to release annual funds equivalent to other prov­inces. He assured to take mea­sures according to the resources while asking for the pending summary on the application.