New Delhi, Dec 31 (PTI) Pakistan planned to invite a select group of people from India to visit the Teri temple in that country in a "non-transparent" manner and it was not acceptable to New Delhi, official sources said on Friday.

They said now around 160 Indian pilgrims, selected by Indian organisers, will cross over to Pakistan through the Wagah-Attari border on Saturday.

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"Pakistan had planned to invite a select group of people from India to visit Teri temple in Pakistan in a non-transparent manner. This was not acceptable to us," said a source.

"This was also contrary to the spirit under which the two sides conducts pilgrimages," it said.

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The sources said, as, in the past, the Indian government is fully committed to providing all assistance to the Indian pilgrims.

Under the framework of the India-Pakistan protocol on visits to religious shrines of 1974, a large number of Sikh pilgrims from India visit that country.

Similarly, Pakistani citizens also visit religious places in India.

The Teri temple is associated with a saint, Shri Param Hans Ji Maharaj, in the Karak district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The temple was established in 1920.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)