LAHORE, April 28: More than 1,000 Indians have left Pakistan for their home via the Wagah border over the last six days after they were forced to cut short their visits because of the cancellation of visas in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack, an official said on Monday.
“Over 1,000 Indians have left Pakistan for their home via the Wagah border over the last six days. Similarly, more than 800 Pakistanis have returned home by Monday,” a government official told PTI.
He added that those possessing long-term visas from both countries are facing problems in repatriation.
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On Sunday, 236 Pakistanis returned home and 115 Indians crossed into their homeland.
At Wagah, Pakistan Rangers and India’s Border Security Force thoroughly checked the papers of the repatriated citizens before allowing them to proceed with immigration.
On April 22, terrorists opened fire in Kashmir’s Pahalgam killing 26 people, in the deadliest attack in the Valley since the Pulwama strike in 2019.
The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy of the banned Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), claimed responsibility for the attack.
In New Delhi, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on Wednesday decided, among other things, to close the Integrated Check Post at Attari with immediate effect.
The Attari-Wagah border is located near Amritsar in India and Lahore in Pakistan.
New Delhi cancelled SAARC visa privileges to visiting respective nationals, a step soon followed by Islamabad.
Pakistani nationals will not be permitted to travel to India under the SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme (SVES) and any such visas issued in the past to Pakistani nationals are deemed cancelled.
In Pakistan, individuals holding long-term visas, Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) and those with ‘No Objection to Return to India’ stamps were denied border crossing.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said all existing valid visas issued by India to Pakistani nationals stand revoked with effect from April 27 and added that the medical visas issued to Pakistani nationals will be valid only till April 29.
Mirroring India’s steps, Islamabad on Thursday closed the Wagah border post, cancelled visas given to Indians under the SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme (SVES) and asked military advisers at the Indian High Commission to leave.
“All cross-border transit from India through this route shall be suspended, without exception. Those who have crossed with valid endorsements may return through that route immediately but not later than April 30,” Pakistan said. (PTI)
