With India setting deadline, Pak nationals flock to Attari-Wagah border to return home

Chandigarh: Several Pakistani nationals visiting India started returning home through the Attari-Wagah land route in Amritsar on Thursday, a day after the Centre set a 48-hour deadline for them to leave the country.

The Centre on Wednesday announced a raft of measures, including expulsion of Pakistani military attaches, suspension of the Indus Water Treaty of 1960 and immediate shutting down of the Attari land-transit post in view of the cross-border links to the horrific terror attack in Kashmir's Pahalgam that killed 26 civilians on Tuesday.

According to Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, Pakistani nationals will not be permitted to travel to India under the SAARC visa exemption scheme (SVES) and any Pakistani national currently in India under the SVES visa scheme had 48 hours to leave the country.

The decisions were taken by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which announced that the integrated check-post (ICP) at Attari will be closed with immediate effect and those who crossed over to Pakistan with valid documents may return through that route before May 1.

On Thursday morning, several Pakistani families reached the ICP in Amritsar to return to the neighbouring country through the Attari-Wagah land route.

A family from Karachi said they had gone to Delhi to meet their relatives.

"We came here (India) on April 15 and today we are returning home though we had a visa for 45 days," said Shaikh Fazal Ahmad, a member of the family.

Responding to a question on the Pahalgam attack, Ahmad said, "Whosoever has done it is completely wrong. We want mutual brotherhood and friendship between the two nations. There should be no place for hatred. We don't want hatred." Another Pakistani national named Mansoor said he along with his family came to India on a 90-day visa on April 15.

"But we are returning home today," Mansoor said, as he condemned the Pahalgam attack, saying it shouldn't have happened.

Another Pakistani national, Mustafa, said while the Pahalgam attack should never have happened, it was not a right decision to ask all Pakistanis to leave India.

Some Indian nationals with visas to travel to Pakistan also reached the ICP on Thursday, including a family from Gujarat intending to meet their relatives in Karachi.

"We got the visa two months back," said an elderly member of the family.

When told that the Attari land-transit post had been shut, the elderly man said they were prepared to return home if asked.

Kanpur resident Seema said she needed to visit Karachi to meet her ailing sister.

"I want to go to Karachi. I have a visa for one month. My sister Chanda Aftab is in a very serious state," Seema said.

When told about the closure of the land-transit post, she said, "What can I say." Two men from Rajasthan, who reached Amritsar on Wednesday evening to cross over to Pakistan, said they were unaware about the shutting down of the Attari land-transit post.

Meanwhile, many Indian tourists visiting Amritsar strongly condemned the terror attack and appealed to the Centre to take exemplary action against those behind the incident.

"Pakistan should be given a befitting reply," a tourist from Nanded in Maharashtra said.