44 Sikh delegates from Pakistan arrive at Amritsar

A delegation of 44 Sikhs on Monday arrived in India from Pakistan via Wagah-Attari border to visit gurdwaras in Amritsar and Delhi

A delegation of 44 Sikhs on Monday arrived in India from Pakistan via Wagah-Attari border to visit gurdwaras in Amritsar and Delhi.

Members of the Sikh delegation from Pakistan at the Golden Temple in Amritsar on Monday. (HT Photo)

“We have arrived from Pakistan’s Peshawar, Sindh and other areas to visit gurdwaras of Amritsar and Delhi,” a Pakistani Sikh delegate, Harbhajan Singh, told news agency ANI.

Another delegate Sardar Karam Singh said, “We are a total of 44 people and have arrived to visit the Darbar Sahib in Delhi. We are thankful to the Pakistani government for giving us permission to visit India.”

Recently, Pakistan’s High Commission in New Delhi had issued nearly 3,000 visas to Indian Sikh pilgrims to attend the week-long birth celebrations of Guru Nanak.

Indian Sikh pilgrims visited Dera Sahib, Panja Sahib, Nankana Sahib and Kartarpur Sahib.

Some pilgrims had recently expressed disappointment after the Pakistani authorities rejected 586 of the 1,496 visas of Indian Sikhs wanting to visit the Nankana Sahib in Pakistan.

Harbhajan said, “Both governments need to provide the facility of visa on arrival. The buses which used to run earlier for the darshan of the gurdwaras in Pakistan were also stopped. Those should be resumed. We should connect the people of both countries through religious places.”