Around 200 Pakistani nationals stuck in India due to COVID-19, returned via Wagah-Attari border crossing on Thursday (today).
The repatriation of 200 Pakistani citizens stranded in India comes after continuous efforts of Pakistani High Commission in India.
The development comes as several Pakistani citizens in Gujrat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, New Delhi and Rajasthan were left stranded due to the suspension of train services between the two countries on August 15th.
The train service was suspended due to the severe outbreak of novel COVID-19 coronavirus.
It is pertinent to know that Wagah-Attari border crossing was closed on March 19 as a precautionary measure to prevent further spread of coronavirus.
However, during this time period the Wagah border crossing had been reopened on several occasions of Pakistani citizens stranded in India and vice versa.
Prior to this 75 Pakistanis stranded in various cities across India including Ahmedabad, Allahabad, Amritsar, Bareilly, Hoshangabad, Hyderababad, Indore, Jodhpur, Kanpur, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, Raipur, Saharanpur and Vellore were repatriated via Wagah border on July 10th this year.
Furthermore, Mohammad Sadiq – Prime Minister’s special representative for Afghanistan on July 13th had announced that Wagah border crossing will be allowed to cater Afghanistan’s transit trade from July 15th to allow Afghan exports to reach India amid COVID-19 restrictions.
