ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday felicitated the Sikh community on the 551st birth anniversary of Baba Dev Guru Nanak, saying the rights of all religious minorities in the country would be safeguarded.

The prime minister, in his video message, assured the Sikh community that the government would fully protect their holy sites in Pakistan, including the two most sacred ones of Nankana Sahib and Katarpur.

Both the sites were as sacred to Sikhs as Makkah and Madina for the Muslims, he added. Imran Khan said the government would extend every possible assistance and facility to the Sikh community members, citing the recently revamped railways station of Hassan Abdal to facilitate the pilgrims intending to visit the holy Punja Sahib.

The prime minister said all religious sites in the country would be given protection. "The policy of our government is to protect all religious minorities in Pakistan and also their holy places, may it churches, temples or Buddhist monasteries."

The three-day celebrations of the birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak began on Saturday in Nankana Sahib with the arrival of over 600 Sikh pilgrims from India through the Wagah border.

The main ceremony of the celebrations took place at Gurdwara Janamasthan in Nankana Sahib. The celebrations also included the Nagar Kirtan procession, followed by the Bhog ritual at night.

The prime minister last year had opened the Kartarpur Corridor on the 550th birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak, as a goodwill gesture to facilitate Sikhs within the country and from across the border.