NEW DELHI: Pakistan has issued 104 visas to Indian pilgrims to visit Shadani Darbar Hayat Pitafi in Sindh province to participate in the 315th birth anniversary celebrations of Shiv Avtari Satguru Sant Shadaram Sahib this month, the high commission said on Friday.

The pilgrims are expected to visit Pakistan during December 12-23 to join the celebrations, according to a statement by the Pakistan high commission in New Delhi.

The charge d’affaires of the Pakistani mission, Aizaz Khan, extended his felicitations to the pilgrims and wished them a safe journey, it said.

Under the India-Pakistan Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines of 1974, thousands of Sikh and Hindu pilgrims from India visit the neighbouring country every year to attend religious festivals and special celebrations.

“The issuance of pilgrimage visas to them is in line with the government of Pakistan’s efforts for facilitating visits to religious shrines and promoting interfaith harmony,” the statement said.

A number of Indian Hindus are also issued visas to visit families and friends in Pakistan.

India too issues visas to Pakistani nationals to visit several shrines, including the dargah of Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer and the mausoleum of Sufi saint Khwaja Nizamuddin Auliya in New Delhi.

Like exchanges and contacts in most spheres, visits by Indian and Pakistani pilgrims have been affected by the sharp downturn in bilateral ties over the past few years. In 2019, the two sides opened the Kartarpur Corridor to allow Indian pilgrims visa-free access to the historic gurdwara built at the site in Pakistan’s Punjab province where Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, spent the final years of his life.