ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has issued over 2,200 visas to Indian Sikh pilgrims to participate in the annual festival — Baisakhi celebrations — scheduled to be held in Pakistan from 12-21 April.

According to a statement of Pakistan’s High Commission in New Delhi, the issuance of visas is covered under the framework of the Pakistan-India Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines of 1974.

Every year, it added that a large number of Sikh yatrees from India visit Pakistan to observe various religious festivals/occasions. The visas issued from New Delhi are in addition to the visas granted to Sikh pilgrims participating in these events from other countries, it added.

“The issuance of pilgrimage visas to religious pilgrims by the High Commission is in line with the Government of Pakistan’s commitment to fully implement the bilateral protocol on visits to religious shrines between the two countries,” according to the statement.

Expressing his views on the auspicious occasion, Charge d’Affaires Aftab Hasan Khan, extended his heartfelt felicitations to the pilgrims and wished them a rewarding and fulfilling yatra. Pakistan takes immense pride in preserving sacred religious places and providing necessary facilitation to the visiting pilgrims, he added.

During the visit, it added that the pilgrims would, inter alia, go to Panja Sahib, Nankana Sahib, and Kartarpur Sahib. They would enter Pakistan on 12 April and return back to India on 21 April 2022, the statement added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022