Pakistan to continue facilitating Sikh community’s visits to their religious places: Masood khan

WASHINGTON, May 08 (APP): Pakistan will continue to provide all possible facilities to the Sikh community around the world wanting to visit their religious places in the country, Ambassador Masood Khan said Tuesday. The Pakistani envoy was talking to a delegation of the American-Punjabi Society, which called on him, according to an embassy press release.

The Government and the people of Pakistan, Ambassador Masood Khan said, fully understand the religious sentiments of the Sikh community and “our doors are open” to them. The President of the American-Punjabi Society, Gary Sikka, told the Ambassador that his organization consists of one hundred thousand Punjabi-Sikh members, some of whom are also from Pakistan, and that a Society’s delegation of 115 people would soon visit Pakistan to visit religious places in Lahore, Faisalabad, Islamabad and Kartarpur.

Referring to their previous visits, the delegation members, especially spoke about their pilgrimage to Kartarpur and said that the hospitality of the Pakistani people was heart-warming. While welcoming the delegation at the embassy, Ambassador Masood Khan said that the Government and people of Pakistan respect the religious sentiments of the Sikh community, adding that the visa policy regarding religious tourism has been simplified with an aim to provide them maximum facilitation.