ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has granted visas to around 3,000 Indian pilgrims so they can attend festivities of Guru Nanak’s birth anniversary taking place in multiple cities from November 6 to 15 2022. These visas are provided in accordance with the Pakistan-India Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines of 1974.
The Indian pilgrims will visit gurdwaras and religious sites in Dera Sahib, Panja Sahib, Nankana Sahib, and Kartarpur Sahib during their stay from November 6 to 15. The Indian pilgrims will visit for their religious sermons, celebrations, and festivals going in Pakistan.
A sizable number of Sikh yatris, or pilgrims, go to Pakistan every year from India for religious festivals and special occasions. In addition to the visas awarded to Sikh pilgrims from other nations, the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi also issued 2,942 visas to citizens of India. Thousands of Sikh pilgrims residing in foreign countries other than India would also be visiting Pakistan to attend the event.
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Pakistan High Commission in India said in a statement “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.”
Pakistan’s charge d’affaires Aftab Hasan Khan in High Commission in India has extended his felicitations to the Indian pilgrims by saying “wished them a rewarding and fulfilling yatra”. Hasan Khan further said, “Pakistan takes immense pride in preserving sacred religious places and providing necessary facilitation to the visiting pilgrims.”
The magnificent newly built Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib complex was a gift by the people of Pakistan and their leadership to the Sikh community from India and worldwide. Pakistan High Commission in India extended profound felicitations to the Sikh community in India and across the world.
The Indian pilgrims will visit the gurdwaras in Dera Sahib, Panja Sahib, Nankana Sahib, and Kartarpur Sahib during their stay. Indian Pilgrims will enter Pakistan on November 6 and on November 15, they will return to India.
The decline in bilateral relations over the past few years has had an impact on pilgrim visits from Pakistan and India, similar to exchanges and connections in most other areas. In order to give Indian pilgrims access to a revered gurdwara established in Kartarpur in Pakistan’s Punjab province, the two sides opened the Kartarpur Corridor where Guru Nanak spent his final years.
