ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office on Monday expressed “deep disappointment” over India’s failure to issue visas to 503 Pakistani intending to attend the Urs of Hazrat Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer Sharif, India.
In a statement, Foreign Office Spokesperson Dr Muhammad Faisal said that the visit was to take place under the 1974 Pakistan-India Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines and is a regular annual feature. He added that the pilgrims had wanted to travel to India between March 19 and 29.
The statement recalled that 192 Pakistani pilgrims could not participate in the Urs at Ajmer Sharif in January 2018 as well because of non-issuance of visas by India.
“It is again ironic that this was done on the occasion of the Urs of Hazrat Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti, who has for centuries been a symbol of bringing communities closer to each other,” the statement noted.
“Besides being violative of the bilateral protocol of 1974 and the basic human right to religious freedom, such measures also undermine the efforts aimed at improving the environment, increasing people-to-people contacts and normalising relations between the two countries,” the statement further observed.
The FO spokesperson also recalled how in February this year, the Government of Pakistan made all arrangements for the visit of 173 Indian Katas Raj Pilgrims, who were later forced to withdraw their applications from the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi.
“Despite Pakistan’s offer to send a special train, Indian delays had resulted in Sikh yatrees (pilgrims) from India being unable to participate in the Martyrdom Anniversary of Guru Arjan Dev and the death anniversary of Maharaja Ranjit Singh,” the FO spokesperson stated.
