Islamabad, November 04, 2019 (PPI-OT): Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi has issued over 4200 visas to Indian Sikh Pilgrims to partake in the 550th Birth Anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak in Pakistan from 5-14 November 2019. The Pilgrims would cross over Attari/Wagah border by foot in two groups on 5th and 6th November 2019, says a press release received here today from New Dehli. Under the Pakistan-India Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines of 1974, thousands of Sikh and Hindu Pilgrims from India visit Pakistan to participate in various religious festivals every year. As of now, the number of Pilgrimage Visa issued by the High Commission has touched 10,000, in the year 2019.
Thousands of Sikh Pilgrims residing in countries other than India, holding foreign passports and Indian passports, also visit Pakistan to attend their religious festivities and visit Sikh Gurdwaras in Pakistan. The High Commission has issued over 4200 visas this time as “special gesture” on the auspicious occasion of the 550th Birth Anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak against the limit of 3,000 in the bilateral Protocol of 1974. A number of other initiatives for facilitation of Sikh pilgrims including opening of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor have been taken by the Government of Pakistan during the current year and in the preceding year.
Pakistan High Commission in India extends profound felicitations to the Sikh community in India and all over the world who are celebrating the important land mark of the 550th Birth Anniversary of the founder of their religion, Sikhism. The High Commission also wishes a spiritually rewarding yatra to the pilgrims visiting Pakistan on this occasion. The issuance of maximum number of pilgrimage visas is in line with the Government of Pakistan’s efforts for promoting visits to religious shrines.
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