Pahalgam terror attack: Father of two ailing Pakistani children caught in India-Pak visa move

A Pakistani man in India for a life-saving medical procedure for his two children has appealed to the two governments to allow their treatment to be completed before they are compelled to return home.

The family from Hyderabad in Sindh province is among the several from India and Pakistan forced to cut short their visits after New Delhi and Islamabad cancelled SAARC visa privileges following the Pahalgam terror attack.

The father of the two Pakistani children told Geo News on phone that his two children, aged nine and seven, have had a heart disease since birth. The channel did not identify the father.

“They have a heart condition and their treatment was possible in New Delhi because of the advanced medical treatment here. But after the Pahalgam incident, we have been told to return to Pakistan immediately,” he said, adding their surgery is scheduled for next week.

The hospital and doctors are cooperating with them but they were being pressed by the police and foreign office to leave from Delhi immediately.

“I appeal to the governments to allow the medical treatment of my children to be completed as we have spent around Rs 10 million on our travel, stay and their treatment,” he said.

Meanwhile, over 100 Indian citizens in Pakistan have left for their homeland on Thursday with more following on Friday, officials said.

“Some 105 Indian nationals left Pakistan for their homeland and 28 Pakistanis in India returned here on Thursday,” Express Tribune quoted a government official as saying.

On Friday, more Indians crossed into their homeland from the Wagah border near Lahore. Some more Pakistanis, too, returned from India.

The Attari-Wagah border is located near Amritsar in India and Lahore in Pakistan.

A Pakistani Hindu family comprising seven members arrived at Wagah from Balochistan to go to India to attend a wedding ceremony there.

After reaching Wagah, Akshay Kumar said the authorities told him that they couldn't cross into India because the Indian government had cancelled their visas. “We were unaware of the development because of a journey to Lahore from Balochistan,” he said.

The Pakistani Hindu families who previously migrated to India and granted No Objection Return to India (NORI) visas are also facing an uncertain future under the current tension between the two countries.