The Indian government has allowed 193 Pakistanis stranded in the country due to coronavirus lockdown to return on May 5.
The Indian External Affairs Ministry has directed state police chiefs to facilitate the travel of the stranded Pakistanis back to their country via the Attari-Wagah border crossing next week. The Pakistani nationals have been told to arrive at the border early Tuesday to begin the formal process of their return.
The Indian External Affairs Ministry said only asymptomatic persons will be allowed to return to Pakistan. “It is requested that all returning Pakistan nationals may be screened as per international norms and existing provisions of the government of India and only asymptomatic individuals may be allowed to return,” said Dammu Ravi, additional secretary of the ministry, to the state governments.
According to The Hindustan Times, the directives by the Indian government was been issued after the Pakistan High Commission requested facilitation for Pakistani citizens in returning to their country.
Last month, a smaller group of Pakistanis had returned from New Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. The 193 Pakistanis who will return to their country on May 5 are stranded across 25 districts in 10 states: Maharashtra, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and New Delhi.
Meanwhile, Pak-Afghan border at Torkham has been opened to allow Pakistanis stranded in Afghanistan to return. The decision was taken on the orders of the Interior Ministry. Pakistanis returning from Afghanistan are being permitted entrance only after all relevant SOPs are followed. They are transferred to quarantine centres as a precautionary measure.
Last month, Pakistan had opened its Torkham and Chaman border crossings for four days to allow Afghan nationals in the country to return home. Islamabad had announced it would temporarily open the border crossings on Kabul’s request on humanitarian grounds amid the coronavirus pandemic. Separately, 252 Pakistanis stranded in Sudan were flown to Karachi from Khartoum by PK 786 on Saturday. Ambassador Sarfraz Sipra and embassy team personally saw off all the passengers. While speaking on the occasion, the ambassador extended gratitude to the Sudanese government for their all-out support throughout the evacuation effort. He said the challenging task was realized with synergetic efforts of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, government of Pakistan, PIA and Bilal Masjid, Khartoum.
