Nagpur: Stranded Pakistani citizens on NORI visas return

NAGPUR: Over 360 Pakistani citizens including 40 from Maharashtra who were stranded across the border following Covid outbreak began returning to India on Monday after a wait of six months. They were accompanied by 36 Indian citizens who were either their children, elderly parents, or spouses.
The Pakistani citizens are Indian residents living here on long term visas and had applied for citizenship. They had gone to Pakistan to meet their kin under no-objection return to India (NORI) visas allowed for three months but were stranded due to Covid lockdown.
The crossover through Wagah-Attari border continued till late in the night. By 9 pm around 200 had crossed to the Indian side after getting their rapid antigen test for Covid done.
Their kin kept calling them from Nagpur and other parts of the state. By evening, some of them sent anxious messages on a whatsapp group of returnees, asking others to locate their family members as they had lost touch over phone.
Rajesh Jhambia of Sindh Hindi Panchayat who has been coordinating with the stranded persons said the government should also now ensure the return over 100 others who had gone on NORI visas and are stranded in Pakistan.