Spokesperson of foreign office Dr Muhammad Faisal, in a statement today, said the visit was to take place under the provisions of the 1974 Pakistan-India Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines and is a regular annual feature.
As a result of this Indian decision, the Pakistani Zaireen will be deprived of the opportunity to participate in the Urs begining from Monday. The spokesperson said this is unfortunate and runs counter to the letter and spirit of the 1974 Protocol and objective of people-to-people contacts.
The spokesperson said such measures also undermine the efforts aimed at improving the environment and normalizing relations between the two countries.Besides being violative of the bilateral Protocol, and the basic human right to religious freedom, such measures also undermine the efforts aimed at improving the environment, increasing people-to-people contacts and normalizing relations between the two countries.
“It is ironic that this was done on the occasion of Urs of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya who was a symbol of bringing communities closer to each other,” the spokesperson added.
The news came a day after Pakistan handed over 145 Indian fishermen to Indian authorities at Wagah border crossing near the eastern city of Lahore while another group of Indian fishermen will be released next month as a good will gesture.
