Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi celebrated Raksha Bandhan on Sunday with a Pakistan-origin special guest at his residence, a private media outlet reported.
Qamar Mohsin Shaikh paid him a visit to tie rakhi, something which she has been doing for over 20 years. Qamar came to India from Pakistan after her marriage and has been living here since then.
From the time she was a humble RSS worker, Qamar had endearingly kept alive the tradition even after he had become prime minister.
“I have been tying rakhi to Narendra bhai for the last 22-23 years, excited to do it this time too,” Qamar told news agency ANI in New Delhi.
She said PM Modi had returned her call despite his tight work schedule.
“This time I thought PM Modi must be busy but two days back he called, I was very happy to know that; started preparing for Raksha Bandhan,” she said.
Recollecting the time he was RSS worker, Qamar said: “When I first tied rakhi to Narendra bhai, he was a karyakarta but with his sheer hard work and vision, he has become the PM,” she said.