537 Pakistani nationals left India through Attari border in
537 Pakistani nationals left India through Attari border in 4 days as deadline ends for short-term visa holders
As many as 537 Pakistani nationals, including nine diplomats and officials, left India through the Attari-Wagah border point in four days beginning April 24
Sisters cry
as their brother prepares to leave India, at the Attari-Wagah border, near
Amritsar, Sunday, April 27, 2025. The exit deadline passes amid escalating
tensions between the two countries over the Pahalgam terror attack. (PTI
Photo/Shiva Sharma)
NEW DELHI — As many as 537 Pakistani nationals,
including nine diplomats and officials, left India through the Attari-Wagah border point in four days beginning April 24 as the exit deadline for the 12
categories of short-term visa holders of the neighbouring nation ended Sunday,
officials said.
A total of
850 Indians, including 14 diplomats and officials, have returned from Pakistan
through the international border crossing located in Punjab in the last four
days.
The 'Leave
India' notice to the Pakistani nationals was issued by the government after 26
people, mostly tourists, were killed by Pakistan-linked terrorists in Pahalgam
in Jammu and Kashmir on April 22.
The
officials told PTI that altogether 237 Pakistani nationals, including nine
diplomats and officials, left India through the Attari-Wagah border post on
Sunday, 81 left on April 26, 191 on April 25 and 28 on April 24.
Similarly,
116 Indians, including one diplomat, returned from Pakistan on Sunday through
the international land border crossing; 342 Indians, including 13 diplomats and
officials, came back on April 26; 287 Indians crossed over on April 25; and 105
Indians returned on April 24, the officials said.
Protocol
Officer at the Attari border Arun Mahal told PTI that between April 24 and 27,
a total of 537 Pakistani nationals crossed over to Pakistan through the
Attari-Wagah border while 850 Indians returned from Pakistan.
Some of the
Pakistanis might have left India through airports too, the officials said,
pointing out that since India does not have direct air connectivity with
Pakistan, they might have left for other countries.
The
deadline for exiting India for those holding SAARC visas was April 26. For those
carrying medical visas, the deadline is April 29.
The 12
categories of visas whose holders have to leave India by Sunday are -- visa on
arrival, business, film, journalist, transit, conference, mountaineering,
student, visitor, group tourist, pilgrim and group pilgrim.
Three
Defence/Military, Naval and Air Advisors in the Pakistani High Commission in
New Delhi were declared Persona Non Grata on April 23 and they were given one
week to leave India.
Five
support staff of these defence attaches were also asked to leave India.
India has
also withdrawn its defence attache from the Indian High Commission in
Islamabad.
However,
those having long-term and diplomatic or official visas were exempted from the
'Leave-India' order.
At the
Attari border in Amritsar district, vehicles queued up as Pakistani nationals
hurried to cross over to their country.
Many
Indians came to bid farewell to their relatives, the pain of separation evident
on their faces.
Sarita and
her family had come to India for a relative's wedding set for April 29.
"We came to India after nine years," she said.
She, her
brother and her father are Pakistanis while her mother is an Indian national.
"They
(the authorities at Attari) are telling us they will not allow my mother to go
along. My parents got married in 1991. They are saying Indian passport holders
will not be allowed," said Sarita, crying bitterly.
Maharashtra
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said all Pakistanis have been accounted for
and arrangements are being made to deport the people whose visas have been
revoked as per the Centre's directives.
State
minister Yogesh Kadam on Saturday said 1,000 Pakistani nationals with
short-term visas have been asked to leave India.
Around
5,050 Pakistani citizens have been living in Maharashtra and most of them are
on long-term visas, the officials said.
The Bihar
government said all Pakistani nationals, who had been to the state in the
recent past, left well ahead of the April 27 deadline.
In the
southern state of Telangana, police chief Jitender cited official records to
say that 208 Pakistani nationals were staying in the state, mostly in
Hyderabad.
Of these,
156 held long-term visas, 13 short-term visas and 39 were with the travel
document for medical and business purposes.
There were
104 Pakistani nationals in the southern coastal state of Kerala, of whom 99
were on long-term visas, according to the officials.
The
remaining five, who were on either tourist or medical visas, have left the
country.
Central
India's Madhya Pradesh had around 228 visiting Pakistani nationals, many of
whom have already left the country, the officials said.
Around 12
Pakistanis have been identified in Odisha and all of them have been asked to
follow the deadline set for them to leave the country.
Goa Chief
Minister Pramod Sawant has said three Pakistani nationals, who were in the
state on short-term visas, have been asked to leave.
Seven
Pakistanis were in Gujarat on short-term visas -- five in Ahmedabad and one
each in Bharuch and Vadodara. They have either left India or are leaving by
Sunday, the officials said.
Besides,
438 Pakistani nationals are in the western state on long-term visas and they
include Hindus who have applied for Indian citizenship.
In the
north, Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police Prashant Kumar said on Saturday
that the process of sending back all categories of Pakistani citizens who have
been ordered to leave India has been completed.
One
Pakistani national is still in the state and he will depart for Pakistan on
April 30, the DGP said.
As many as
19 Pakistani nationals staying in Bihar with short-term visas have left the
country.
Union Home
Minister Amit Shah on Friday called up the chief ministers of all states and
asked them to ensure that no Pakistani stays in India beyond the deadline set
for leaving the country.
After
Shah's telephonic conversations with the chief ministers, Union Home Secretary
Govind Mohan held a video conference with the chief secretaries and asked them
to ensure that all Pakistani nationals whose visas were revoked must leave
India by the deadline fixed.
The already
strained relations between India and Pakistan nosedived further after the
Pahalgam terror attack, with New Delhi announcing a raft of measures, including
the cancellation of visas, against Islamabad, which hit back with a string of
tit-for-tat measures.
