The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) will commence special flights from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Pakistan for Hindu pilgrims to promote religious tourism in the country.
The flights will operate from the UAE and other countries around the world to Pakistani provinces of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa carrying Hindu pilgrims who want to visit the holy sites.
The flights will start operating from January 2022, facilitating national and international pilgrims to visit Teri Temple in Karak.
The country’s national carrier signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Dr Ramesh Vankwani, patron-in-chief of the Pakistan Hindu Council and a member of the Pakistan National Assembly.
“I am very happy because it’s indeed a great achievement that I’m signing this MoU on behalf of Pakistan Hindu Council. We are united and PIA proved that we are one nation. It has been proven that all religions in Pakistan are free to practice their rituals,” Ramesh Vankwani told Khaleej Times.
Hindus in the UAE holding an Indian passport can apply for a religious tourism visa at the Embassy of Pakistan in Abu Dhabi and the Consulate in Dubai.
Earlier on December 1, Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi issued 136 visas to Indian Hindu pilgrims for visit to their religious sites in Pakistan. The group of Indian Hindu pilgrims is visiting Pakistan to participate in the 313th Birth Anniversary celebrations of Shiv Avtari Satguru Sant Shadaram Sahib, at Shadani Darbar Hayat Pitafi, Sindh from December 4 to 15, 2021.