The decision on the Indo-Pakistan border through the Punjab province was particularly sensitive due to the multi-faith make-up of the region and the location of important religious sites close to the proposed border such as Nankana Sahib in present-day Pakistan.

Edwina and Louis Mountbatten in Lahore, July 1947

Source: Photo Division, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Mountbatten visited Lahore in part to allay Sikh concerns about the award of the Boundary Commission which would finalize the borders. He also sought to persuade Punjabi leaders to issue a public statement appealing for peace at a time of heightened communal tension.