The woman thanked PM Modi and Sushma Swaraj for taking up her case. (Representational)
Left stranded in Pakistan for three months following the Balakot air strike, a Pakistan-origin woman along with her two children has finally reunited with her husband in India.
Married to Hyderabad-based Shaik Aijaz Mohiuddin, Sumaira Farooqi had gone to Pakistan to see her ill father in December, 2018.
She said: "Since my marriage in 2011, I have been staying here with my husband. We are blessed with two children. Last year in December, my father had a stroke and I, along with my two kids, went to Pakistan to pay him a visit."
Ms Farooqi's return ticket to India was scheduled on February 27. "I couldn't fly as they offloaded all the passengers due to the escalated tension between India and Pakistan," she added.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) had sent Mirage 2000 fighter jets to strike a terror camp in Balakot, deep inside Pakistan territory, on the morning of February 26.
Expressing gratitude, Farooqi told ANI: "It was my wish to celebrate this Eid with my family in Hyderabad. I am very happy that I celebrated it with my family here."
The woman said she had to spend five days at the Lahore airport. "When I explained the situation to my husband and mother-in-law, they sought the External Affairs Ministry's intervention."
We got stranded in Pakistan as my visa got expired on March 3 and my children's visa a few days later, she added.
"I would also like to thank both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the then External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj for taking up our case and helped me to get the visa," Ms Farooqi said.
On May 30, she was re-united with her family in Hyderabad.