Indian officials were again barred from access for the third time at Nankana Sahib on Friday, though India lodged a “strong protest” in the morning with Pakistan government after they “harassed” and “denied access” to the Indian officials at Gurudwara Nankana Sahib and Gurudwara Sacha Sauda on November 21 and 22.
Pakistan has, for the time, approved to give 3,800 numbers of visa to Sikh pilgrims to visit at Gurudwaras in Pakistan, in order to celebrate Guru Nanak Jayanti
Even after the “strong protest” in the morning, Indian officials were stopped entering the Gurudwara on Friday. According to the sources, after granting permission by the Pakistan foreign ministry, “they were stopped from performing their diplomatic duties and were even harassed”.
Referring to the previous incident, today also Indian officials were stopped entering Gurudwara and returned back to Islamabad “without performing their diplomatic and consular duties vis-a-vis Indian pilgrims”.
In the protest, India pointed out the service of the Indian government regarding allowance and access to Pakistani pilgrims at Kaliyar Sharif dargah, situated near Roorkee.
These actions taken up by Pakistan are remarkable to the background of India’s approval to construct a visa-free cross-border between India and Pakistan connecting Gurudwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur and Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur.
Indian president Ram Nath Kovind is likely to lay down the foundation for the visa-free cross-border on November 26.