The Indian government is facilitating the return of 180 stranded Pakistani nationals to their country.
At least 40 Pakistani nationals out of the 188 stranded in India due to the 40-day lockdown are likely to return to their country on Thursday, Pakistan High Commission sources indicated on Wednesday.
Some of them were visiting India to meet relatives and family members while others were here for medical treatment or to visit religious shrines, sources said. The Indian government is facilitating the return of 180 stranded Pakistani nationals to their country.
The Ministry of External Affairs has been helping a number of foreign missions to evacuate their citizens stranded in India after it closed the border crossing points and restricted operation of passenger flights as part of measures to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
“We understand from the High Commission of Pakistan that 180 of their nationals currently in India want to go back. We are coordinating with authorities concerned to facilitate their departure,” a source said.
The Pakistan High Commission has been in close contact with the Indian side to ensure expeditious and safe return of stranded Pakistanis.
Last month, five Pakistan nationals returned home via the Attari-Wagah border point. This comes at a time when bilateral ties between India and Pakistan are frosty.
In fact, India on Tuesday “strongly condemned” what it called a deliberate attack and firing on Indian fishermen on board two Indian fishing boats by a Pakistan Maritime Security Agency vessel on April 12. In the firing, one Indian fisherman was injured.
“The deplorable act by PMSA of firing at a fishing vessel and causing bodily harm to an Indian fisherman is in contravention of all established norms and practices. Pakistani authorities are called upon to instruct its forces to refrain from such acts of unprovoked violence,” an official statement from MEA said.