Five Pak nationals, who had been stranded in India after the neighbouring nations sealed their respective borders to contain further spread of coronavirus, have returned to their home country through the Attari-Wagah border on Sunday.
The five were here on medical visas and were allowed to return to Pakistan after the Union ministry of external affairs granted them special permissions.
The five have been identified as Chaudhary Muhammad Ashfaq (who underwent a follow-up medical treatment at Fortis Hospital New Delhi), his accompanying attendant Muhammad Asif, Nighat Mukhtar (who got a liver transplant at Fortis Hospital Noida), his accompanying attendant Yasir Mukhtar, and a donor Muhammad Khalid.
A senior official of the border security force (BSF), deployed at the Attari joint checkpost (JCP), said, “The five Pak nationals had special permission from the Union ministry of external affairs. Our troops handed over all five men to the Pakistani rangers at 10am.”
Sources said that the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi had written to the ministry, on March 26, for granting special permission to the five. A special ambulance was arranged to take them from Noida and Delhi to Attari. The ambulance ferried them on Saturday night.
On March 14, India had suspended cross-border trade and movement of passengers through the Attari-Wagah border till April 15 as a precautionary measure against the coronavirus outbreak. But diplomats, officials of the United Nations (UN) and other international organisations, and employment and project visa-holders were excluded from the ban.
{{/usCountry}}On March 14, India had suspended cross-border trade and movement of passengers through the Attari-Wagah border till April 15 as a precautionary measure against the coronavirus outbreak. But diplomats, officials of the United Nations (UN) and other international organisations, and employment and project visa-holders were excluded from the ban.
{{/usCountry}}Subsequently, on March 19, Pakistan too closed its borders for 14 days. Since then, thousands of Pak nationals have been stranded in India and Indians in Pakistan.
This is the second case since March 19, when India has granted special permission to Pak nationals to return home. Earlier, on March 20, a Pak family whose child underwent a surgery in India, was allowed to return home. The family was granted special permission after the child’s video, in which he is seen imploring authorities of both nations to allow them to return home, was widely circulated on the social media.
After March 19, many Pak families have been visiting Attari to return to Pakistan as their visas have expired, but no one was allowed to leave. Most Pak nationals were on their way back after meeting their relatives in different states here.
“No one was allowed to cross the border after March 19, expect those having special permissions from both the countries,” said an official of the Land Port Authority of India (LPAI) posted at the Attari checkpost.