Stars see off Shoaib, Sania

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

Daily Times Monitor

LAHORE: Shoaib Malik and Sania Mirza’s wedding celebrations in India culminated on Thursday in a star-studded reception attended by Bollywood actors Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Shahid Kapoor and cricketer Sohail Tanvir among others.

The reception was held at the luxurious Taj Krishna Hotel in Hyderabad, with Shoaib dressed in an off-white sherwani and Sania wearing a golden shalwar kameez. The reception ended with Sania’s family seeing her off to leave with the groom.

Pakistani singer Waris Baig, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy, Telugu Desham Party President Chandrababu Naidu, actress Neha Dhupia, actor Raza Murad, Sahara Group Chairman Subroto Roy and industrialist GVK Reddy also attended the reception. Several other Indian film personalities and sportspersons invited to the reception stayed away.

Federal Minister for Population Welfare Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan – representing the Pakistani government at Shoaib Malik and Sania Mirza’s wedding reception in India – gifted a gold crown to the Indian tennis queen and also handed over gifts from President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani to the newly-wed couple. She hoped Shoaib and Sania’s wedding would help strengthen ties between Pakistan and India. She said the newlywed couple would be brand ambassadors for her Population Welfare ministry.

Asked about Shoaib’s passport – which is being kept by a city court – the minister said, “We are aware of the legal process in India … [but] the matter will be resolved very soon.” The cricketer has moved the Andhra Pradesh High Court for the return of his passport. On Thursday, Shoaib also called former SCBA president Aitzaz Ahsan over the phone to discuss the matter.