ISLAMABAD (WEB DESK) – India has refused to grant visas to Pakistani pilgrims who intend to visit the Urs of Sufi saint Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti at Dargah Ajmer Sharif in Rajasthan.
Reports said 400 Pakistanis would leave for India to witness the event, adding that all worshipers had gathered at Haji camp in Lahore.
New Delhi has denied permission to Pakistani pilgrims, citing the Covid-19 pandemic, although Islamabad has allowed hundreds of Sikh and Hindu pilgrims into Pakistan in the current year and into 2021.
The development comes days after Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) had to postpone its scheduled flights to take Pakistani Hindu pilgrims to India because it did not receive a green signal for the flight.
A statement issued by the Pakistan Hindu Council (PHC) on January 29 stated that in its ticket application for three flights: from Karachi to Jaipur on January 29, from Jaipur to Agra on the same day and from Delhi to Karachi on February 1. – PIA had contacted India’s civil aviation department for clearance and necessary arrangements, but received no response from the other party on Thursday.
Therefore, it is now impossible to move forward in this process, he added. However, the PHC made it clear that neither they nor PIA were responsible for the cancellation of the trip. Instead, “the customer [Indian authorities] lagged behind” to make the trip possible for Pakistani Hindu pilgrims, he added. He said the trip is postponed until Pakistani authorities receive clearance from India to airlift the pilgrims.
