Pakistan has said it would consider issuing a visa to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann if he wishes to travel to Lahore for the World Punjabi Conference later this month.
Responding to questions about Mann’s possible visit during his weekly media briefing on Friday, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Sajjad Haider Khan said the government would consider his visa request if the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader wished to visit the country.
However, Khan made it clear that permission from the Indian government for Mann to travel to Pakistan was a separate matter.
Mann had said on October 23 that he had been invited to attend the World Punjabi Conference in Lahore on November 27, but questioned whether he would be allowed to make the trip.
“Our culture is the same. Many poets from here will go there,” Mann had said while speaking about the proposed visit.
The Punjab Chief Minister had also expressed a desire for all members of the Punjab Legislative Assembly to visit Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan if the Kartarpur Corridor reopens.
The corridor connects Dera Baba Nanak in Punjab with the historic Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, Pakistan, associated with Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of Sikhism. It allows Indian pilgrims to visit the shrine without a Pakistani visa under special arrangements.
The Kartarpur Corridor has remained closed to pilgrim movement from the Indian side since May 7, 2025, when India carried out pre-dawn missile strikes on nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir following the Pahalgam terror attack.
Pakistan said it was ready to facilitate pilgrims once restrictions were lifted.
Khan said Pakistan welcomed pilgrims of all faiths and remained committed to facilitating visits to religious sites. According to him, Pakistan issued more than 9,000 visas to Indian religious pilgrims in 2025, including Sikh and Hindu devotees, besides issuing over 4,000 additional visas to Sikh pilgrims during the first half of this year.
“Pakistan looks forward to welcoming a large number of Sikh pilgrims at Nankana Sahib later this month to mark the 557th birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak Dev Ji,” he said.
The spokesperson said Pakistan had established the Kartarpur Corridor as a special initiative for Sikh pilgrims, allowing more than 5,000 visitors to travel to the shrine daily and return the same day.
He also referred to the 1974 Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines between India and Pakistan as a framework for facilitating religious pilgrimages between the two countries.
PTI inputs