537 Pakistanis left India in 4 days as exit deadline ends
According to the Immigration and Foreigners Act 2025, which came into effect on April 4, 2025 overstaying, violating visa conditions, or trespassing in restricted areas could lead to three years in jail and a fine of up to Rs 3 lakh.
BSF personnel checked documents of Pakistani nationals arriving to cross over to their country as the deadline to exit India nears its end at the Attari-Wagah border point, near Amritsar
The exit deadline for Pakistani nationals visiting India on SAARC visas ended on April 26, while for the rest, except those on medical visas, closed today. The deadline for the 12 categories of short-term visa holders of the neighbouring nation ended today.
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237 Pakistani nationals, including nine diplomats and officials, left India through the Attari-Wagah border post on Sunday, 81 left on April 26, 191 on April 25 and 28 on April 24.
Similarly, 116 Indians, including one diplomat, returned from Pakistan on Sunday through the international land border crossing; 342 Indians, including 13 diplomats and officials, came back on April 26; 287 Indians crossed over on April 25; and 105 Indians returned on April 24,
Some of the Pakistanis might have left India through airports too.
India does not have direct air connectivity with Pakistan, they might have left for other countries.
Three Defence/Military, Naval and Air Advisors in the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi were declared Persona Non Grata on April 23 and they were given one week to leave India.
Five support staff of these defence attaches were also asked to leave India. New Delhi has also withdrawn its defence attache from the Indian High Commission in Islamabad.
However, those having long-term and diplomatic or official visas were exempted from the 'Leave-India' order.
At the Attari border in Amritsar district, vehicles queued up as Pakistani nationals hurried to cross over to their country. Many Indians came to bid farewell to their relatives, the pain of separation evident on their faces.
Sarita and her family had come to India for a kin's wedding set for April 29. "We came to India after nine years." She, her brother and her father are Pakistanis while her mother is an Indian national.
"They (the authorities at Attari) are telling us they will not allow my mother to go along. My parents got married in 1991. They are saying Indian passport holders will not be allowed," she said, crying bitterly.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said all Pakistanis have been accounted for and arrangements are being made to deport the people whose visas have been revoked as per the Centre's directives.
Maharashtra minister Yogesh Kadam on Saturday said 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, the officials said.
The Bihar government said all Pakistani nationals, who had been to the state in the recent past, left well ahead of the April 27 deadline. In the southern state of Telangana, police chief Jitender cited official records to say that 208 Pakistani nationals were staying in the state, mostly in Hyderabad.
Of these, 156 held 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, according to the officials. The remaining five, who were on either tourist or medical visas, have left the country.
The BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh had around 228 visiting Pakistani nationals, many of whom have already left the country, the officials said.
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.
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 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. As many as 19 Pakistani nationals staying in Bihar with short-term visas have left the country.
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 measures, including the cancellation of visas, against Islamabad, which hit back with a string of tit-for-tat measures.
“Whoever,—(a) being a foreigner, remains in any area in India for a period exceeding the period for which the visa was issued to him or stays in India without a valid passport or other valid travel document in contravention of provisions of Section 3 or does any act in violation of the conditions of the valid visa issued to him for his entry and stay in India or any part thereunder;
"(b) contravenes any other provisions of this Act, other than sections 17 and 19, or of any rule or order made thereunder or any direction or instruction given in pursuance of this Act or such order or direction or instruction for which, no specific punishment is provided under this Act, shall be punishable with an imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years or with a fine which may extend to three lakh rupees or with both,” the Act says.
India, Taliban explore strengthening bilateral ties, investment opportunities
The meeting concluded with both sides underscoring their mutual interest in strengthening bilateral cooperation, boosting trade and transit ties, and maintaining dialogue on regional stability.
Anand Prakash, Joint Secretary in India’s Ministry of External Affairs, met with Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi, Acting Foreign Minister of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
While India does not formally recognize the Taliban regime, the meeting reflects New Delhi’s calibrated engagement strategy, focusing on practical cooperation and safeguarding its strategic and economic interests in the region.
ends
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