Lahore, Oct 6 (PTI) The five-member delegation of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC-Amritsar) that arrived here via Wagah Border held a meeting with its counterpart Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC) and Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) officials to push them to ease the visa policy so that more Indian Sikhs can visit their holy places in Pakistan.

The delegation led by SGPC Amritsar Pardhan Advocate S Harjinder Singh Dhami arrived on Wednesday and held a joint meeting of SGPC, ETPB, and PSGPC at the ETBP headquarters in Lahore.

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Dhami stressed on the ease in visa curbs and said a lot of time was wasted on obtaining a visa for Pakistan, a participant of the meeting told PTI.

"We want more and more Indian Sikhs to come to Pakistan to visit their holy places and for that purpose, the ETPB will have to play its role," Dhami was quoted as saying.

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The visit of the Sikh delegation comes at a time when bilateral relations between New Delhi and Islamabad are strained over issues like cross-border terrorism from Pakistan and the Kashmir issue.

ETPB spokesperson Amir Hashmi told PTI that the board's chief Habibur Rehman Gilani assured the delegation that the visa matter would be taken up with the federal government.

Hashmi said Gilani also told the delegation that the board had launched an app for religious tourism.

"This will help all those, especially Sikhs coming to Pakistan for religious tourism," Gilani said, further informing the delegation that the board had allocated a "substantial amount" in its 2022-23 budget for the restoration of different Gurdwaras in the country.

The ETPB spokesperson said both sides had agreed to meet over the upkeep of gurdwaras here.

Dhami left for India on Wednesday while the remaining four members will stay here till October 8 and visit Kartarpur Sahib and Nankana Sahib, Hashmi said.

(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)