Pak authorities issue 3,000 visas to Sikh pilgrims

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi has issued about 3,000 visas to Indian Sikh pilgrims to enable them to participate in the 552nd birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak in Pakistan from Nov.17-26.

An official statement said the Sikh pilgrims during their stay in Pakistan will visit different Gurdwaras, including Gurdwara Janam Asthan in Nankana Sahib and Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur.

Visas to the Sikh pilgrims have been issued under the Pakistan-india Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines of 1974, which provides for the visit of 3,000 Sikh pilgrims from India for birthday celebrations of Guru Nanak. Thousands of Sikh pilgrims residing in countries other than India will also be visiting Pakistan to atend the event.

Prime Minister Imran Khan has taken several initiatives to facilitate Sikh pilgrims, including the historic opening of the visa-free Kartarpur Sahib Corridor in November 2019 on the occasion of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak.

The newly built Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib complex was a git by the people of Pakistan and their leadership to the Sikh community from India and worldwide.

Meanwhile, Pakistan High Commission in India extended felicitations to the Sikh community on the 552nd birth anniversary of the founder of Sikh religion. The High Commission also wished a spiritually rewarding Yatra to the pilgrims visiting Pakistan on this occasion.

The issuance of a maximum number of pilgrimage visas is in line with the government’s efforts for promoting visits to religious shrines in Pakistan.

Separately, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has presented in the National Assembly the details of gits received by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi from various foreign dignitaries.

Qureshi provided details of the 43 gits he received in the last three years along with the names of the countries and heads of states.

Forty-three items received by the foreign minister as gits from various foreign dignitaries include a Rolex wristwatch, a gold pen with gems, a pair of gold cufflinks, gems-studded tasbeeh and gold chain, a gold ring, a decoration piece, another decoration piece, an oil painting with wooden frame and velvet box from Tajik prime minister, and Chinese wall hanging from Minister for International Dep of CPC, among other exotic gits.

However, the foreign ministry’s decision to release these hitherto unknown details has fuelled questions as to what has been keeping Imran himself to make public the names of heads of states he received the gits from. The ruling party has long designated them as “classified.”