Pakistani heart op girl goes home

Noor's mother pledged to bring her back to visit India

A Pakistani toddler who underwent heart surgery in India and came to symbolise peace hopes between the nations has returned home to Pakistan.

Two-year-old Noor Fatima and her parents were given a warm send-off at the bus station in the Indian capital, Delhi, on their way back to Lahore.

A media frenzy surrounded Noor as she boarded the bus, with dozens of reporters and camera crews present in Delhi, while many others were there to see her arrive on the Pakistani side of the border, says the BBC's Zaffar Abbas.

The girl's family had arrived on the same bus service on 11 July - the day the travel link resumed after an 18-month suspension imposed during political tension.

Noor received treatment for two holes in her heart at a specialist hospital in the southern Indian city of Bangalore.

She has been the focus of much media attention in India during her stay and offers of financial support poured in from across the country.

Today, I feel as if we are leaving one home for another Nadeem Sajjad, Noor's father

"She is too young to understand what this visit means to her," Noor's mother, Tayyaba Nadeem, told the Times of India.

"When she turns six, we will bring her back to India to visit Narayana Hrudayalaya [hospital] in Bangalore which has given her a second life."

Nadeem Sajjad, Noor's father, added: "Today, I feel as if we are leaving one home for another."

Friendship trust

On Thursday, Mr Sajjad said his daughter was now "80% recovered".

"The remaining 20% recovery will happen, according to doctors, at home in Pakistan," Mr Sajjad said.

Noor has "80% recovered", her father says

"I feel bad leaving behind so many good friends I have come to know. But at the same time it is good Noor has recovered and we are going home."

In the wake of Noor's case, the Indian Government announced that it would ease visa restrictions for Pakistani children requiring medical attention.

It also said that it would finance the travel, treatment and accommodation for a group of 20 sick Pakistani children.

Mr Sajjad has also set up a friendship trust using money pledged by people in India to help other patients in need of heart care in India and Pakistan.

The resumption of travel links has been one sign of improving relations between India and Pakistan, who cut off diplomatic and other ties after an attack on the Indian Parliament in December 2001.

Delhi blamed the attack on Pakistan-backed militants and relations between the two countries fell to a new low.

But in April, Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee offered a "hand of friendship" to Pakistan and the two countries have recently re-appointed high commissioners to each others capitals.