Sudheendra Kulkarni said that a demand should be made to allow Pakistan to reopen its consulate and that India should also reopen its consulate in Karachi. (PTI File photo from Khurshid Kasuri's book launch)
Sudheendra Kulkarni, who was attacked with black ink for organising ex-Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri's book launch in Mumbai by Shiv Sena, said its chief Uddhav Thackeray should visit Pakistan to understand more about the country.
"I appeal to Uddhav Thackeray to visit Pakistan. Your understanding of Pakistan will change," Mr Kulkarni said while addressing an event to launch 'Karachi Mumbai Friendship Forum'.
Mr Kulkarni said that If Madhur Bhandarkar (filmmaker) can go to Pakistan then why should there be a ban on Pakistani artists in India.
He said the 26/11 terror attack mercenaries who came to Mumbai did not represent Pakistan.
"In October we organised Kasuri's book launch despite threats of Shiv Sena. Today's event is yet another demonstration that Mumbai wants to separate from such ideologies," he said.
On October 12, Sena activists had blackened the face of Mr Kulkarni for organising Kasuri's book launch and termed him as a "Pakistani agent".
Mr Kulkarni said that a demand should be made to allow Pakistan to reopen its consulate and that India should also reopen its consulate in Karachi.
"It is heartening that our two governments have decided to move ahead with a comprehensive bilateral dialogue," Kulkarni said, adding, "Next year, we would like to have a Marathi Utsav in Karachi and also a Gujarati Utsav there."
Mr Kulkarni also spoke of a "crowd-sourcing initiative" for people to share experiences of partition. "We want to have a peace boat to Karachi," the ORF chairman said.