ISLAMABAD: India has issued visas to 100 Pakistani pilgrims to attend events related to the annual death anniversary of revered Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, state media reported this week, saying that the number was “significantly below” the allowed quota of 500 pilgrims. 

Pakistan and India regularly issue visas to residents of each other’s countries to attend birth and death anniversaries of religious personalities. The 1974 Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines agreement allows devotees from both countries to visit sacred sites, including Hindu temples in Pakistan and Islamic shrines in India. 

However, political tensions between the two nations have at times disrupted these exchanges, with instances where visas were denied to religious pilgrims.

“The Indian authorities have issued visas to only 100 Pakistani pilgrims for the annual Urs of Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer Sharif, India, significantly below the allotted quota of 500,” state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) said on Saturday.

Pakistan’s religion ministry spokesperson Umer Butt said India has denied visas to a potential 400 Pakistani pilgrims this year to attend Chishti’s death anniversary. 

“Despite the restrictions, he said 100 Pakistani pilgrims are set to leave for Ajmer Sharif on Sunday via the Wagah border,” APP reported. 

He said these pilgrims will participate in various religious ceremonies at Chishti’s shrine, widely known as Gharib Nawaz, at Ajmer in India’s Rajasthan. 

Despite the tensions between the two countries, Pakistan has actively promoted religious tourism in recent years, welcoming Buddhist monks as well as Hindu and Sikh pilgrims from India and across the globe. 

The inauguration of the Kartarpur Corridor in 2019, which allows visa-free travel for Indian Sikhs to the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, is a significant milestone in these efforts.

Each year, a large number of Indian Sikhs also travel to Pakistan to pay homage at sacred sites, including Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s Samadhi in Lahore, the last resting place of the founder of the Sikh Empire, and Gurdwara Panja Sahib in Hasan Abdal, revered for its connection to Guru Nanak.

ISLAMABAD: A leading government spokesperson this week warned that negotiations with former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party may face “serious hurdles” if the party fails to submit its demands in writing in the next meeting. 

The PTI and the government’s second round of talks on Jan. 2 ended inconclusively after Khan’s party demanded more time to meet and consult the jailed former premier before submitting their demands in writing to the government. 

The two sides kicked off negotiations last month to end the political deadlock in the country. Khan’s party has publicly stated two demands: the release of political prisoners and the establishment of judicial commissions to investigate protests on May 9, 2023, and Nov. 26, 2024, which the government says involved his party supporters, accusing them of attacking military installations and government buildings.

“In an interview with a private television channel, he [Senator Irfan Siddiqui] said that if PTI does not submit its demands in writing as promised, the negotiation process may face serious hurdles,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported. 

“He said even after 12 days, no significant progress has been made.”

Siddiqui, who is the parliamentary leader of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz ()PML-N) in the Senate and a member of the government’s negotiation committee, said the government had facilitated Khan’s party by arranging its meetings with the former prime minister in jail. 

However, he said the PTI remained “indecisive” about formalizing their demands despite written assurances made in joint declarations. 

“However, if the written demands are not presented in the third meeting, the negotiations could face significant setbacks,” Radio Pakistan quoted Siddiqui as saying. 

He said the date for the third meeting between the two sides would be decided by the PTI.

Khan’s ouster in a parliamentary no-trust vote in 2022 has plunged Pakistan into a political crisis, particularly since the PTI founder was jailed in August last year on corruption and other charges and remains behind bars. His party and supporters have regularly held protests calling for his release, with many of the demonstrations turning violent.

The talks between the two sides opened days after Khan threatened a civil disobedience movement, and amid growing concerns he may face trial by a military court for allegedly inciting attacks on sensitive security installations during the May 9, 2023 protests.