Pakistani nationals start returning home, after India curtails free movement post Pahalgam bloodbath
An Indian citizen walks past security personnel at an Integrated Check Post as he returns from Pakistan, near the Attari-Wagah border, in Amritsar district, Punjab on Thursday
| Photo Credit:
PTI
Acting on the Cabinet Committee on Security’s last evening decision, the government on Thursday decided to suspend visa services to Pakistani nationals with immediate effect and asked them to leave India before April 27.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) issued a statement and said that all existing valid visas issued by India to Pakistani nationals stand revoked with effect from April 27, 2025, but those who are here on medical visas have been given two days extra to return to their native country.
“All Pakistani nationals currently in India must leave India before the expiry of visas, as now amended,” the MEA statement read.
The Ministry stated that Indian nationals are strongly advised to avoid travelling to Pakistan. At the same time, it suggested Indian nationals currently in Pakistan to return to India at the earliest.
Owing to the government’s deadline, Pakistani nationals have started reaching Attari-Wagah border Integrated Check Post (ICP) in Amritsar to take the land route for returning home.
A family from Karachi said they went to Delhi to meet their relatives but have to cut short their stay due to government curtailing visas of Pakistanis post Pahalgam terror attack.
“We came here (India) on April 15 and today we are returning home though we had a visa for 45 days,” Mansur, one of the family members, said while condemning terror strike.
Travel advisory
Some Indian nationals with visas to travel to Pakistan also reached the ICP on Thursday, realising little the free movement between the two countries have been curtailed.
“We got the visa two months back,” said an elderly member of a family from Gujarat which wanted to travel to Pakistan to meet their relatives. After learning that the facility has been suspended they decided to return to their state.
After the Indian government shut the Attari ICP to downgrade diplomatic relations with Islamabad, Punjab Police Protocol Officer Arun Mahal said 28 Pakistani nationals returned home, while 105 Indian citizens returned to India.
He also stated that the iconic gates at Attari remained shut, but ceremonies were conducted separately on either side of the border.
The Border Security Force (BSF) has scaled down retreat ceremony at Attari, Hussainiwala and Sadki along Indo-Pak border in Punjab in wake of Pahalgam attack.
Published on April 24, 2025
