Islamabad: Pakistan foreign office on Thursday said that Pakistan’s high commission in New Delhi issued 166 visas to Indian Hindu pilgrims for visits to Shree Katas Raj Temples in Punjab and for participation in annual celebrations at Shadani Darbar Hayat Pitafi, Sindh.
A foreign spokesperson said in a media briefing that Pakistan also issued visas to 3000 Sikh pilgrims from India on the occasion of the 554th birthday celebrations of Baba Guru Nanak this month to visit Pakistan from 25 November to 04 December 2023.
A spokesperson said that Pakistan welcomes and facilitates thousands of Sikh and Hindu pilgrims from India to visit Pakistan to attend various religious festivals and occasions every year under the Pakistan-India protocol on visits to religious shrines of 1974.
Foreign office officials said that issuance of pilgrimage visas is in line with Pakistan’s commitment to facilitate visits to religious shrines and promote interfaith harmony adding that as many as 6824 visas were issued to Indian pilgrims visiting Pakistan this year.
Spokesperson said that caretaker foreign minister Jalil Abbas Jilani also addressed letters to the leadership of the United Nations, Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the European Union, inviting their attention to the illegality of the recent judgement by the Supreme Court of India on the status of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
The spokesperson said that Pakistan will continue to extend political, diplomatic and moral support to our Kashmiri brothers and sisters for the just and peaceful settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the UN Security Council Resolutions.
The foreign office spokesperson said that Pakistan remains deeply concerned over the ongoing campaign of brutality and large-scale massacre unleashed upon the Palestinian people.
“We strongly condemn Israel’s ongoing war on hospitals and its barbarous bulldozing of tents in the courtyard and vicinity of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza that crushed to death numerous Palestinians including women, children and wounded patients under treatment.”
“The crimes against humanity in occupied Palestine are a haunting stain on the conscience of humanity. Pakistan calls for holding Israel accountable for its actions and the UNSC to take immediate effective action to impose a ceasefire and lift the inhumane siege against Gaza.,” spokesperson said.
The foreign ministry official said that Pakistan is also deeply concerned over the recent statements made by senior Israeli officials rejecting creation of a viable and independent Palestinian state. “Such statements, especially the comments on the “Oslo Accords”, reflect the true intentions of the Israeli occupation authorities, their disregard for International law and commitments and rejection of a just resolution of the Palestinian question,” foreign office spokesperson said.
“Pakistan firmly believes that the only just solution to the Palestinian question is the creation of an independent, viable, sovereign and contiguous Palestinian State along pre-June 1967 borders with Al-Quds-Al-Sharif as its capital.”
The spokesperson said that Pakistan will continue to support international efforts to bring an end to Israel’s ongoing campaign against the Palestinian people. The official announced that Pakistan will participate in the “Consultative Conference on Palestine” scheduled to take place in Tehran, on December 23.
