Stranded Pakistanis to leave India via Wagah border

NEW DELHI, India / KARACHI, Pakistan

Pakistanis stranded in India will start returning to their home country from tomorrow, the country's Foreign Office confirmed on Wednesday.

The development comes following Islamabad's request to New Delhi for its citizens' repatriation via the Wagah-Attari border.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a 21-day nationwide lockdown on March 24 to slow the spread of coronavirus. The restrictions, which were to end on April 14, have been extended till May 3.

This left many Pakistani nationals due to return stuck in New Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Punjab.

"We have been pursuing it with the Indian side for repatriation of the stranded Pakistanis. A batch of 41 Pakistanis is returning tomorrow,” said Foreign Office spokeswoman Aisha Farooqui.

She added that efforts for the repatriation of all citizens stranded in the neighboring country were continuing.

In a letter addressed to police chiefs of states where Pakistanis are stranded, Dammu Ravi, additional secretary of India's Ministry of External Affairs, said all nationals may be screened as per international norms and existing provisions, and only asymptomatic individuals will be allowed to return.

They would travel in vehicles from various parts of the country to the border checkpoint, according to the ministry.