India refuses visas to Pakistani pilgrims

Due to India’s refusal to issue visa to Pakistan, pilgrims will not be able to attend the annual urs of Hazrat Khwaja Nizamuddin Auliya in New Delhi this year.

According to local media reports, a large numbers of Pakistanis had submitted visa applications to the India High Commission, which were rejected.

A statement released by the Foreign Office on Saturday said that this was a violation of a bilateral agreement between Pakistan and India. The agreement had been taken under the provisions of the 1974 Pakistan-India Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines, which is a regular and annual feature.

Foreign minister says Jadhav’s family treated with dignity, rejects Indian allegations

''It is ironic that this was done on the occasion of urs of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, who was a symbol of bringing communities closer to each other," the statement read.

Every year both the countries issue visas to devotees to visit places of religious importance. This rejection of India’s follows the recent visit of Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav’s family to Pakistan, which India had termed as a propaganda tool.