272 Pak nationals left India through Attari in past 2 days, more to exit Sunday as deadline ends
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New Delhi (PTI): Around 272 Pakistani nationals have left India in the past two days through the Attari-Wagah border point and a few hundred more are expected to exit on Sunday when the deadline for the 12 categories of short-term visa holders of the neighbouring nation ends, an official said.
As many as 629 Indians, including 13 diplomats and officials, have returned from Pakistan through the international border crossing located in Punjab.
The 'Leave India' notice to the Pakistani nationals was issued by the government after 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed by Pakistan-linked terrorists at Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir on April 22.
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.
However, those having long-term and diplomatic or official visas were exempted from the 'Leave-India' order.
According to officials, 191 Pakistani nationals left India through the Attari-Wagah border on April 25 and 81 more exited on April 26.
As many as 287 Indians crossed into India from Pakistan On April 25, and altogether 342 Indians, including 13 diplomats and officials, returned from Pakistan through the Attari-Wagah border on April 26, officials said.
Some of the Pakistanis might have left India through airports too, they said, pointing out that since India does not have direct air connectivity with Pakistan, they might have left for other countries.
Officials said the highest number of Pakistanis with short-term visas were staying in Maharashtra. Their number was pegged at around 1,000, they said. The state's minister Yogesh Kadam on Saturday said the 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. Of these, around 2,450 were in Nagpur, 1,100 in Thane, 390 in Jalgaon, 290 in Navi Mumbai, 290 in Pimpri Chinchwad, 120 in Amravati and 15 in Mumbai, officials said.
Interestingly, 107 Pakistani nationals, who were staying in Maharashtra were, untraceable, according to officials.
In the southern state of Telangana, police chief Jitender cited official records to say that as many as 208 Pakistani nationals were staying in the state, mostly in Hyderabad. Among them, 156 hold 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. 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 left the country already, officials said. On the other hand, 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, 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 visiting the state 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.
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 retaliatory steps, including the cancellation of visas, and Islamabad hitting back with a string of tit-for-tat measures.
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I applaud govt, stand solidly with our armed forces: Shashi Tharoor
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New Delhi (PTI): Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday applauded the government and expressed solidarity with the armed forces, while asserting that India has behaved in a manner that would not justify further expansion of the conflict.
Tharoor also said it time for all concerned to act wisely to prevent uncontrolled escalation.
Sharing an article he wrote last week, Tharoor said in a post on X, "A set of calibrated, calculated, precise strikes against terror targets. Exactly what I had advocated last week: hit hard, hit smart. I applaud the government and stand solidly with our armed forces."
"At the same time we have behaved in a manner that would not justify further expansion of the conflict. We have made our point and acted in self-defence," the former Union minister said.
Time for all concerned to act wisely to prevent uncontrolled escalation, Tharoor added.
Earlier, in another post, Tharoor, wrote, "So proud of my country today.Jai Hind!" In retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack, Indian armed forces carried out missile strikes early Wednesday on nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir, including the Jaish-e-Mohammad stronghold of Bahawalpur and Lashkar-e-Taiba's base Muridke.
The military strikes were carried out under Operation Sindoor two weeks after the massacre of 26 civilians in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam.
"A little while ago, the Indian armed forces launched 'Operation Sindoor' hitting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed," the defence ministry said in a statement at 1.44 am.
It said the actions by the Indian armed forces have been "focused, measured and non-escalatory" in nature and that no Pakistani military facilities have been targeted.
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