Abid Bashir
Srinagar (NVI): 315 students from Jammu and Kashmir, enrolled at different colleges across Pakistan, who were stranded in India amid the Covid-19 lockdown, were today allowed to cross over via Attari Wagah border in Amritsar.
100 Pakistani nationals, who were stranded in India due to the lockdown, also crossed over.
An official letter in this regard read that the Government of India (GOI), on the request of Pakistan, has allowed 315 Kashmiri students to cross over to Pakistan to resume studies.
The government of Pakistan had earlier communicated with the Indian government to allow the travel of 315 Kashmiri students to Pakistan on September 30, having Indian passports.
Pakistan had requested that the students be allowed to cross over to Pakistan via Wagah-Attari border point on September 30. In this regard, India allowed the travel of 315 Kashmiri students to Pakistan today, official sources said.
The official letter read: “It is requested that the above mentioned 315 Indian nationalists may be allowed to enter into Pakistan through Wagah border on 30th September, 2020 following necessary health security protocol/screening.”
Pertinent to mention here, a number of students from different parts of Kashmir are enrolled at various medical colleges in Pakistan. It may be recalled that the Indian government, earlier during the COVID lockdown period, had made special arrangements for Kashmiri students who were studying in Pakistan to return to their homes in J&K.
“Today’s decision to allow Kashmiri students back to Pakistan for the purpose of resuming their studies is purely a goodwill gesture,” an official privy to the development said.
-ARK
