ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s High Commissioner to India, Sohail Mahmood, has urged the Indian government to implement the Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines the two countries agreed upon in 1974.
Speaking to the Tribune India newspaper, the envoy claimed that the Pakistani government always made thorough efforts to preserve religious sites and ease visiting tourists of all faiths.
He also referred to the recent visit of Sikh Yatrees to Pakistan for the Baisakhi Festival, and claimed Pakistan’s hospitality towards the visiting pilgrims was in line with the spirit of the 1974 Protocol.
In reference to the Sikh pilgrims visiting Pakistan, Pakistan’s Foreign Office on Sunday released a press statement that rejected the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ claims that India’s High Commissioner to Pakistan had not been allowed to meet the Sikh pilgrims in Hasan Abdal.
The press statement also read,
“For decades, Pakistan has made excellent arrangements to facilitate the visits of Sikh Yatrees from across the world, including India, and extended protocol, reception, security, medical and other facilities which was consistent with its religious ethos and traditions of hospitality.”
It also added:
“It is ironic for the Government of India to accuse Pakistan of violating the 1974 Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines, whereas it is the Indian Government that has, in clear violation of the Protocol, twice within this year denied visas to Pakistani pilgrims on occasions of Urs of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya (R.A.) and Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti Ajmeri (R.A.) and scuttled at least three visits of Sikh and Hindu pilgrims to Religious Shrines in Pakistan since June 2017.”
The statement also claimed that Pakistan would continue to adhere to the 1974 protocol, which was evident from Pakistan granting 2000 visas to Sikh Yatrees from India.
