70 Pakistanis stranded at Attari border as deadline expires: Officials

Amritsar: As many as 70 Pakistani nationals were stranded here on Thursday, officials said, as the deadline for leaving India expired a day earlier.

The Attari-Wagah border was shut on Thursday after being kept open till April 30. The Centre issued the 'Leave India' notice to Pakistani nationals after 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed by terrorists with Pakistan links in Kashmir's Pahalgam on April 22.

The deadline for exiting India for those holding SAARC visas was April 26. For those carrying medical visas, the deadline was April 29.

The deadline for 12 other categories of visas was April 27. These were visas on arrival and visas for business, film, journalists, transit, conferences, mountaineering, students, visitors, group tourists, pilgrims and group pilgrims.

After the expiry of the deadline, no one from Pakistan or India could cross over to each other's country.

As the gates were shut, a long queue of vehicles with Pakistani nationals was seen outside the Integrated Check Post (ICP).

The officials said that Pakistani nationals were not allowed by the customs and immigration authorities to enter the ICP to travel further to Pakistan.

They further said that Pakistan, too, has shut its border. Consequently, many Indian nationals who were waiting to cross over were left stranded there on the Pakistan side.

A Pakistani national, Suraj Kumar, who was in India to meet his aunt in Indore, said he could not reach the Attari border by April 30 to cross over to Pakistan.

He said that he did not know that April 30 was the last day to leave the country.

Another Pakistan national, Rajesh, who, along with his 15 family members, was on a 30-day visa to visit Haridwar, also could not reach the Attari border in time.