Pakistan issues over 6,500 visas to Indian pilgrims for Baisakhi festival

The Pakistan High Commission has issued more than 6,500 visas to Indian pilgrims to participate in the annual Baisakhi festival to be held from April 10-19, it said on Monday. Every year, a large number of pilgrims from India visit Pakistan to observe various religious festivals or occasions under the framework of the Pakistan-India Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines of 1974.

"On the occasion of Baisakhi celebrations, the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi has issued over 6,500 visas to pilgrims from India to participate in the annual festival scheduled to be held in Pakistan from April 10-19," the high commission said in a statement.

The pilgrims will, inter alia, visit Gurdwara Panja Sahib, Gurdwara Nankana Sahib and Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib, it said.

Pakistan's Charge d'Affaires in India, Saad Ahmad Warraich, said the large number of visas issued by the government of Pakistan was a "manifestation of our policy to foster harmony and promote understanding between peoples, cultures and religions".

Pakistan will continue to facilitate such visits to sacred and holy sites, the statement quoted him as saying.