Pakistan issues 84 visas to Indian pilgrims to visit Katas Raj temples

The Pakistan high commission on Wednesday said it issued 84 visas to Indian pilgrims to visit the Shree Katas Raj temples in Punjab province's Chakwal district.

The group has been given visas to visit the Katas Raj temples from December 19 to 25.

The temples are also known as Qila Katas. It is a complex of several Hindu temples connected to one another by walkways.

Under the provision of a bilateral protocol on visits to religious shrines, Sikh and Hindu pilgrims from India visit Pakistan every year.Pakistani pilgrims also visit India every year under the protocol.

"The Pakistan high commission in New Delhi has issued 84 visas to a group of Indian pilgrims for their visit to the sacred Shree Katas Raj Temples in Chakwal district of Punjab," the Pakistani mission said.

Pakistan's Charge d'Affaires Saad Ahmad Warraich wished the pilgrims a "spiritually rewarding" and a "fulfilling" journey.

"Under the Pakistan-India protocol on visits to religious shrines of 1974, each year thousands of Sikh and Hindu pilgrims from India visit Pakistan to attend various religious festivals/occasions," the Pakistan high commission said.

"The issuance of pilgrimage visas is in line with the policy of the government of Pakistan to facilitate visits to religious shrines and promoting interfaith harmony," it said in a statement.