Pakistan has issued visas to around 2,800 Sikh pilgrims from India to attend the upcoming Baisakhi celebrations, despite ongoing political tensions between the two neighboring nations.
According to Pakistan’s High Commission in New Delhi, the pilgrims will participate in the annual festival, which marks the beginning of the harvest season and holds deep religious significance for the Sikh community. The celebrations are scheduled to take place from April 10 to April 19, drawing more than 26,000 devotees from across the world.
Pilgrims from India are supposed to enter Pakistan via the Wagah border post and proceed to Lahore before visiting different religious shrines. The key ceremony will take place on April 14, which will be marked by celebrations at Gurdwara Panja Sahib one of the holiest religious shrines for Sikhs, situated in the city of Hasan Abdal in Punjab province.
There are quite a number of Sikh religious shrines in Pakistan. Notably, one of the most visited ones is the Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara, where Guru Nanak spent the last days of his life. There are numerous visitors annually to these shrines, especially during religious festivals.
The move is made amid deteriorating relations between the two nations due to their territorial disputes and other tensions. The relationship was severed when India rescinded the autonomy of Kashmir in 2019, followed by downgrading diplomatic relations and halting trade activities.
Nonetheless, issuing visas still goes a long way towards boosting religious tourism.
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