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Pakistan reopened the Wagah border gate, allowing its citizens stranded in India to return after their short-term visas were cancelled following the Pahalgam attack.
The decision came nearly 24 hours after India requested Pakistan to take back its people in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26.
According to a report by India Today, many Pakistani nationals, including elderly individuals and families visiting relatives, were stranded in India due to extended screening and questioning by Indian authorities.
Among those stranded was Suraj Kumar, a Pakistani citizen who had travelled to India to accompany his mother for a religious visit to Haridwar.
“I came 10 days ago on a 45-day visa. When I reached Attari border at 6 am, the gates were shut,” he told Indian media.
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India had cancelled several visa categories after the April 22 attack and set exit deadlines – April 26 for SAARC visas, April 27 for others, and April 29 for medical visas.
On Wednesday alone, 125 Pakistanis returned home through Wagah, raising the total in one week to 911. On the same day, 15 Indians holding Pakistani visas also crossed back.
India also took strict actions – suspending the Indus Waters Treaty, banning Pakistani flights, and blocking Pakistani social media accounts.
In a strong reaction, Pakistani Minister Hanif Abbasi warned India of nuclear retaliation if provoked. He said Pakistan’s Ghori, Shaheen, and Ghaznavi missiles, along with 130 nuclear warheads, are ready and not kept for “display purposes.”
