Indian High Commission Team Meets Sikh Pilgrims In Pak To Review Security

A team of officials from the Indian High Commission in Pakistan met with the leaders of the visiting Indian Sikh pilgrims in Lahore on Monday to take stock of their safety and security, and to facilitate their visits to various gurdwaras in thcountry.

Over 2,500 Sikhs from India arrived in Pakistan on Sunday amid tight security to take part in the festivities in connection with the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh religion, on Tuesday.

Pakistan has been seeing a law-and-order situation since ousted premier Imran Khan's party launched a long march towards Islamabad over a week ago.

The visit of the Indian Sikh pilgrims is taking place at a time when Pakistan is on the edge following an assassination attempt on Mr Khan last week in the Punjab province.

The pilgrims are taking part in festivities at Gurdwara Janamasthan in Nankana Sahib, some 80 km from Lahore. On Monday, the Indian Sikhs also visited Gurdwara Sacha Sauda Farooqabad, about 75 kilometres from Lahore.

“@IndiainPakistan consular team is on the ground, with the Indian jatha visiting Pakistan for Gurupurab, coordinating with jatha leaders, local authorities for their safety, security and to facilitate their visit to various Gurdwaras in Pakistan @MEAIndia,” said the High Commission of India in Islamabad in a tweet.

“The Indian High Commission's team met with the Sikhs jatha leaders and Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) officials at the Gurdwara Sacha Sauda Farooqabad,” Amir Hashmi, spokesperson for ETPB, which looks after the holy places of the minorities in Pakistan, told PTI on Monday.

He said ETPB additional secretary (shrines) Rana Shahid Saleem held the meeting with the team of the Indian High Commission and discussed matters related to the visit of the pilgrims.

Mr Khan, who underwent a surgery for bullet injuries, was discharged from the hospital on Sunday and moved to his private residence in Lahore.

Mr Khan, 70, suffered bullet injuries in the right leg on Thursday when two gunmen fired a volley of bullets at him in the Wazirabad area of Punjab province, where he was leading a protest march against the Shehbaz Sharif government.

Khan's party announced to resume the suspended long march to Islamabad from Wednesday. Khan said he would join it in Rawalpindi when it reaches there in 10 to 14 days and until then will stay at his Lahore's Zaman Park residence.

India and Pakistan signed a pact in 2019 to open a land corridor between the two countries that will allow Indian pilgrims to visit Darbar Sahib Gurdwara in Kartarpur, in the Narowal district of Pakistan.

The Kartarpur corridor connects the Darbar Sahib Gurdwara with the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in the Gurdaspur district in India's Punjab province, facilitating the visa-free movement of Indian pilgrims who just need a permit to cross over to Pakistan.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)