NEW DELHI: India said it is ready for discussions with Pakistan on expanding the number of religious shrines that can be visited by pilgrims of both sides and their mode of travel, against the backdrop of a Pakistani proposal for allowing pilgrims to travel by air.
The development comes at a time when ties between the two countries are at an all-time low, with trade and most forms of travel suspended since a terror attack at Pulwama in 2019 brought the two countries close to war.
The Pakistani mission in New Delhi recently forwarded to the external affairs ministry a proposal from the Pakistan Hindu Council that permission be granted for two chartered flights of the Pakistan International Airlines to carry pilgrims from Lahore and Karachi to India. Currently, pilgrims are only allowed to travel via the Wagah land border and the Kartarpur Corridor.
External affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi told a virtual weekly media briefing that India is prepared to discuss the expansion of the list of shrines that can visited by pilgrims of both countries under the terms of the bilateral “Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines” of 1974. With Covid-related travel restrictions currently in place, he suggested these talks could be held before the situation normalises.
