chennai when pakistani national mohammed zubair headed back home in 2013 he looked physically frail but he could finally breathe easy with a new heart two years later the religious teacher from lahore still dials the now familiar numbers of the transplant surgeons from chennai who promised not to give up on him when others did while modis impromptu trip to pakistan is being described amidst much pomp as a diplomatic masterstroke by many there is a less ostentatious exchange between the two countries and the people doing the talks dont wear khadi kurta or pinstriped suits they wear white coats and their hands are trained to heal equipped with scalpels stethoscopes pills and other medical paraphernalia doctors in india have been visiting and holding camps in remote areas in pakistan to salve wounds and undertake surgical procedures in the last five years there has been a sharp spiral in the number of patients coming from pakistan to india for treatment at least 70 of them come for liver transplants with hepatitis c being the most common cause for the organs failure followed by hepatitis b autoimmune liver diseases and congenital diseases in children apollo hospitals delhi gets about 50 patients from pakistan every month these patients come here as the cost of an organ transplant here is half of that in pakistan moreover there are very few centres there that undertake transplant procedures said apollo hospitals senior manager ajay bhardwaj who helps patients from across the border he said these patients also choose india over other neighbouring countries as they find it easier to converse a report in dawn a pakistan daily estimated that more than 500 pakistanis had received liver transplantation in india so far in india most of these patients head to delhi owing to good connectivity and tamil nadu which leads the country in organ transplants most of the patients who head south are those needing a heart transplant while delhi does only three or four heart transplants a year tamil nadu does 40 a year said dr k r balakrishnan director cardiac sciences fortis malar hospital of this about 10 have been from pakistan in the past three years while adult patients wait for about three months for a donor organ it takes longer for children owing to limited paediatric organ donations the ties between patients and doctors dont end once they go home transplant procedures require frequent followups but since many of these patients dont have access to healthcare facilities we call them and check on them said cardiac surgeon dr devi shetty who sees a sizeable number of pakistanis in his hospital on the outskirts of bangalore hospitals also send drugs that are unavailable or expensive to their patients doctors say the journey for pakistani patients and their families is not easy they usually issue visas only to the patient and a relative sometimes he or she may require more than one care giver said dr balakrishnan patients also face hurdles when