As the heads of India and Pakistan prepare for a meeting in New York that is expected to boost peace talks, a wedding show back home is propelling people-to-people contact — often cited by analysts as the bulwark of any permanent peace deal.

In its sixth year, Bridal Asia is more an India-Pakistan bonhomie forum than deal-snapping trade fair.

“We believe in people and spreading love between them,” smiled Divya Gurwara, who has got a 40-member delegation from across the border at her three-day exhibition at the Indian capital’s Taj Palace Hotel.

“The commerce happens,” Gurwara told IANS.