The Attari-Wagah border in Amritsar, a crossing point between India and Pakistan, has been shut completely on Thursday. People from either side flocked to the border to cross over after the Union government ordered all Pakistani citizens with special visas to leave India following the Pahalgam terror attack, which killed 26 civilians, on April 22.
A PTI report, citing sources, said that the crossing point is completely shut now and no one from either country crossed over to other side on Thursday.
Pakistan leaves citizens stranded
Multiple reports said that Pakistan left its citizens stranded at the Attar-Wagah crossing point as it completely closed its border on Thursday. While India had extended the time for Pakistani nationals to leave India until further orders on May 1, Pakistan completely shut the crossing point between the two countries, reports said.
A News18 report quoted an Indian woman, married in Pakistan, as saying, “Somebody, please make me cross the border. I have to go to my child. What is our fault? Those who are separating us from our children, I pray they are separated from their children.”
The woman was reportedly denied entry into Pakistan due to the closure of the Wagah border.
Another Indian citizen, who had come to drop off his sisters (married to Pakistani nationals) at the Attari border, said that they were told that Pakistan had shut the border and not allowing anyone to cross.
“I came here with my sisters at 6 am. The border opens at 10 am. At 11 am, we asked the officials, and they said our government has given the order and we are sending people from here, but they (Pakistani side) are not allowing them to cross the border. We are still waiting here,” Mohammad Shariq told ANI.
911 Pakistanis leave India, 1,617 Indians return
A total of 125 Pakistani nationals left India on Wednesday through the Attari-Wagah border, taking the total number of Pakistanis leaving the country to 911 in the last seven days.
Fifteen Indian citizens with Pakistani visa also crossed over to Pakistan on Wednesday, taking the total number of such people exiting India to 23.
Similarly, 152 Indian nationals and 73 Pakistani nationals with long-term Indian visa have entered India through the international border crossing point in Punjab’s Amritsar district, taking the total number of such people to 1,617 and 224, respectively, a PTI report said.
Govt’s ‘Leave India’ notice
The ‘Leave India’ notice were issued to Pakistani nationals living in India following the Pahalgam terror attack, along with a number of other measures that the Union government had announced on April 23.
The Centre had suspended the SAARC Special Visa Exemption Scheme (SVES) and cancelled all short-term visas issued to Pakistani nationals. The deadline for exiting India for those holding SVES visas was April 26. However, the Attari-Wagah border remained opened till earlier today for any Pakistani national willing to exit India, the report said.
The deadline for 12 other categories of visas was April 27. These were visas on arrival and visas for business, film, journalists, transit, conferences, mountaineering, students, visitors, group tourists, pilgrims and group pilgrims.
However, those having long-term, diplomatic or official visas were exempted from the government’s order.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on April 25 called up the chief ministers of all states and asked them to ensure that no Pakistani stays in India beyond the deadline set for leaving the country, according to a PTI report.
Shah’s telephonic conversations with the chief ministers, Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan also held a videoconferencing with the chief secretaries of states and asked them to ensure that all Pakistani nationals whose visas were revoked leave India before the deadline.
Other measures taken by the govt
The central government, after the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) meeting on April 23, had also decided to withdraw three defence/military, naval and air advisors from the Indian High Commission in Pakistan.
The government had also declared Pakistan’s top military attaches in India as persona non grata and were given one week to leave India. Five support staff of these defence attaches were also asked to leave India.
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