Bank Alfalah will be the main sponsor of the Challenge Cup Dangal, a wrestling competition between Pakistan and India to be held in December.

The sponsorship will see the bank pay a prize of slightly over US$20,000 to the winner of the competition, which its organisers say will boost relations between the two countries.

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"This event will help in reviving traditional style of wrestling in which grapplers from both Pakistan and India dominated and this art of wrestling was patronised by elite of the society for a long time," said Pervaiz A Shahid, the bank's chairman.

"Bank Alfalah is extending financial assistance to a number of sports, apart from supporting cricket with an aim to pay special attention to those sports which are a part of our heritage and culture."