ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has firmly rejected Indian media claims accusing Islamabad of barring Hindu visitors from attending the Baba Guru Nanak Dev Ji birth anniversary celebrations, calling the reports “false, baseless, and misleading.”
According to the Foreign Office, the allegations suggesting religious discrimination are “entirely unfounded” and an attempt to “politicize an administrative matter.”
Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Hussain Andrabi clarified that the High Commission of Pakistan in New Delhi had issued over 2,400 visas to Indian Sikh pilgrims to participate in the annual celebrations from November 4 to 13. Of these, 1,932 pilgrims successfully entered Pakistan through the Attari-Wagah border.
However, around 300 visa holders were stopped by Indian authorities from crossing into Pakistan, Andrabi added. He emphasized that the immigration process on Pakistan’s side was smooth and efficient, with only a few travelers held back for incomplete documentation in line with standard immigration procedures.
Rejecting claims that entry was denied on religious grounds, the spokesperson stressed that Pakistan has always welcomed pilgrims of all faiths to visit its sacred sites “under a well-established and facilitative framework.”
“Any effort to present this purely administrative decision as a religious or political issue is regrettable,” Andrabi said, noting that such distortions reflect “the prejudiced mindset dominating Indian media narratives.”
Earlier this week, dozens of Sikh pilgrims from India crossed into Pakistan the first major movement since May’s deadly border clashes between the two nuclear-armed neighbors, which left scores dead and led to the temporary closure of the Wagah-Attari crossing for general traffic.
More than 2,100 pilgrims were granted visas to attend the 10 day celebrations marking the 556th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, the revered founder of Sikhism.
Meanwhile, the Kartarpur Corridor, a visa-free route opened in 2019 allowing Indian Sikhs to visit their holy temple in Pakistan without crossing the main border, remains closed since the May conflict.
