Exit deadline ends today; Pakistani citizens bid tearful goodbyes to kin, rush home through Attari

Chandigarh: "My mother's an Indian and she is not being allowed to accompany us to Pakistan," bawled teenage Sarita, not knowing when she could see her in person. She, her brother and father were among the hundreds queued up at the Attari border point to exit India on Sunday as the clock ticked.

The exit deadline for Pakistani nationals visiting India on SAARC visas ended on April 26, while for the rest, except those on medical visas, it is set to close on Sunday, April 27 amid escalating tensions between the two countries over the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people.

Medical visas issued to Pakistani nationals are valid till April 29.

At the Attari border in Amritsar district, vehicles queued up as Pakistani nationals rushed to cross over to their country.

Many Indians came to see off their Pakistani relatives at Attari and the pain of separation was palpable.

Sarita's family had come to India for a kin's wedding set for April 29. "We came to India after nine years." She, her brother and her father are Pakistanis while her mother is an Indian. "They (the authorities at Attari) are telling us they will not allow my mother to go along. My parents got married in 1991. They are saying Indian passport holders will not be allowed," she said, crying bitterly.

Most of the Pakistani nationals told PTI that they had come to meet their kin in India. Some were here to attend weddings but now have to rush home without participating.

A man from Jaisalmer said his maternal uncle, aunt and their children were visiting them after 36 years but had to rush back ahead of the deadline.

"They came from Pakistan's Amarkot on April 15 with a 45-day visa. No one knew the situation would turn out to be like this. They did not get time to meet all their relatives," he said.

India has warned that those who fail to exit the country after the deadline passes will face legal action under the newly enacted Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025.

Janam Raj (70) from Peshawar said he had come on a 45-day visa to meet relatives. "I came three weeks ago on my first visit to the country, and look how it turned out," he said.

Mohd Arif, a man from Delhi, had come to drop off his aunt at Attari. Strongly condemning the Pahalgam terror attack, he said the terrorists "murdered humanity and should be publicly hanged".

Another Pakistani national Mohd Salim from Karachi had come on a 45-day visa but had to rush back home like his fellow citizens due to the unexpected gruesome developments.

Gurbax Singh from Pakistan's Buner in the  Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan came to India on April 15.

"Half of my extended family, including my cousins, live in India. What happened in Pahalgam is utterly reprehensible. They (terrorists) murdered humanity, but look who has to bear the brunt. There were many Pakistanis who were visiting India for medical treatment, but now all have to rush back," he said.

The already strained relations between India and Pakistan nosedived further after the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that New Delhi linked to Pakistani establishments.

Immediately after the bloodbath in the verdant meadows of Baisaran, India announced a raft of retaliatory steps, including the cancellation of visas, and Islamabad hit back with a string of tit-for-tat measures.