India

Pakistan Willing to Issue Visa to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann

By PTI

Pakistan’s Foreign Office said it would consider issuing a visa to Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann if he wished to visit the country, adding that whether India allows him to travel is a separate matter. The statement was made by spokesperson Sajjad Haider Khan during a weekly media briefing on Friday. Mann, the Aam Aadmi Party leader, had previously said he had been invited to attend the World Punjabi Conference in Lahore on November 27 and questioned whether he would be allowed to travel to Pakistan. He also expressed a desire for all legislators of the Punjab legislative assembly to visit Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan if the Kartarpur Corridor reopened. The corridor, which connects Dera Baba Nanak in India with the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, Pakistan, was closed to Indian pilgrims since May 7, 2025, after India launched pre‑dawn missile strikes on nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan‑occupied Kashmir. Pakistan said it remained ready to facilitate pilgrims once restrictions were lifted. The foreign office spokesperson noted that Pakistan issued more than 9,000 visas to Indian religious pilgrims in 2025, including Sikh and Hindu pilgrims, and issued over 4,000 additional visas to Sikh pilgrims during the first half of this year. He said Pakistan looks forward to welcoming a large number of Sikh pilgrims at Nankana Sahib later this month to mark the 557th birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak Dev Ji. The spokesperson also mentioned Pakistan’s efforts to preserve Buddhist heritage sites in Taxila and Takht‑i‑Bahi and the establishment of a special task force for that purpose.