ISLAMABAD: A high level meeting of Beijing Organising Committee for Olympic Games (BOCOG) has included Pakistan among the countries where Beijing Olympic Torch will visit for one day.
China?s ambassador in Pakistan Luo Zhau Hui annouced this after his return from Beijing where he attended the BOCOG meeting.
He disclosed that the torch will reach Islamabad on April 16 next year and Pakistan?s star sportsmen would carry it on the roads of the Federal Capital one after other. A large delegation of the BOCOG will visit Islamabad in the third week of this month to finalise the programme of the torch visit.
The Olympics will begin on August 8, 2009 in Beijing at 8pm. The ambassador said since the Chinese believe eight as a lucky number and so, 8th month and 8 pm has been fixed for the commencement of the games. The delegation will also finalise participation of Pakistan in the historic games. The ambassador said that the relay, with the theme ?Journey of Harmony?, will last 130 days, carrying the torch 137,000 km – the longest distance of any Olympic torch relay. The relay will begin on March 25, 2008, in Greek city Olympia. From there, it will travel across Greece to Panathinaiko Stadium of Athens and then to Beijing, arriving on March 31. From Beijing, the torch will follow a route passing through every continent except Antarctica, Ambassador Luo said. – Internews