Amritsar, Apr 7 (PTI) The SGPC on Monday said 1,942 pilgrims had been granted visas to visit gurdwaras in Pakistan to participate in the annual Baisakhi festival to be held from April 10-19.

A 'jatha (batch)' of pilgrims will depart for Pakistan on Thursday, it said.

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Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) secretary Partap Singh said passports of the 1,942 devotees were sent to the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi and it granted the visas.

Like previous years, a Sikh 'jatha' will visit Pakistan on the occasion of Khalsa Sajna Diwas (Baisakhi), he said.

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The 'jatha' will depart on Thursday from the SGPC office and, after attending the main congregation at Gurdwara Panja Sahib in Hasan Abdal, visit other prominent gurdwaras.

The 'jatha' will return on April 19.

Singh also said that the pilgrims whose visas had been granted could collect their passports from the SGPC office during office hours on Wednesday.

SGPC official Satbir Singh Dhami expressed gratitude on the SGPC's behalf to officials in the Pakistan High Commission for granting the visas of all pilgrims whose names had been submitted.

He highlighted many devotees were denied visas in the past that hurt their religious sentiments.

Every year, a large number of pilgrims from India visit Pakistan to observe various religious festivals or occasions under the framework of the Pakistan-India Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines of 1974.

Pakistan's Charge d'Affaires in India, Saad Ahmad Warraich, said the large number of visas issued by the government of Pakistan was a "manifestation of our policy to foster harmony and promote understanding between peoples, cultures and religions".

Pakistan will continue to facilitate such visits to sacred and holy sites, a statement from the high commission quoted him as saying.

(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)