The Attari-Wagah border crossing point between India and Pakistan was shut completely on Thursday following a week-long heavy rush of people from either side to cross over after the Union government ordered all Pakistani citizens with short-term visa to leave India in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack, sources said.
About 21 Pakistani nationals stranded at the Attari-Wagah border following the expiry of the Indian government's deadline for them to leave the country crossed over into Pakistan through the land route of the Integrated Check Post on Friday, officials said. In wake of last week's Pahalgam terror attack, the Indian government cancelled all types of visas granted to Pakistani nationals and ordered them to leave by April 30. The Attari-Wagah border, located near Amritsar in India and Lahore in Pakistan, was shut on Thursday after being kept open till April 30. According to reports, about 70 Pakistani nationals were stranded at the border on Thursday after the deadline for them to leave India expired a day earlier. The 21 Pakistani nationals who entered Pakistan till 12 pm on Friday had been camping on the roads outside the Integrated Check Post. About 50 more Pakistani nationals are queuing outside the Integrated Check Post and may be allowed to cross over into Pakistan after due clearance of customs and immigration authorities. Pakistan on Friday announced it would continue to allow the use of the Wagah border crossing for its citizens stranded in India.
A R Rahman performed at the first-ever concert at the Attari-Wagah border post, using the platform to promote his soundtrack for Imtiaz Ali's Partition-era film Main Wapas Aaunga.
Pakistan has rejected India's request to open the Wagah border point trade route for export of its goods to Afghanistan saying the option does not suit Islamabad at present.
During the 'lowering of flags' before sunset, the stern expression on the faces of the Border Security Force jawans might lead a first-time visitor to think it's because of the tension at the line of control two days earlier.
A day after 61 people died in a suicide attack, India and Pakistan solemnly lowered their national flags at the Beating Retreat ceremony at the Wagah border.
Held during the Beating Retreat ceremony at JCP Stadium, the event was titled Jai Ho -- A Musical Salute to the Bravehearts and came ahead of the release of filmmaker Imtiaz Ali's new film Main Vaapas Aaunga, a cross border drama which features music by Rahman.
Pakistani authorities have released 198 Indian fishermen, who were languishing at a jail in Karachi after being arrested for allegedly fishing illegally in the country's waters, and handed them over to India at the Wagah border.
A total of 45 suspects have been taken into custody by Pakistan police in connection with the deadly suicide blast at Wagah border which killed 63 people.
Four boys and three girls were cleared to play in an ITF tournament in Pakistan.
Sunday evening brought blood and tears to the Wagah border thanks to the suicide attack in which at least 61 people died, but the checkpost has many evocative and positive memories for peaceniks on both sides of the border.
Several Pakistani nationals visiting India started returning home through the Attari-Wagah land route in Amritsar on Thursday, a day after the Centre set a 48-hour deadline for them to leave the country. The decision came after India announced a raft of measures, including the expulsion of Pakistani military attaches, suspension of the Indus Water Treaty of 1960, and the immediate shutting down of the Attari land-transit post in view of the cross-border links to the horrific terror attack in Kashmir's Pahalgam that killed 26 civilians on Tuesday.
Three militant factions, including splinter groups of the Taliban, have separately claimed responsibility for the suicide attack that took place after the popular flag-lowering ceremony at Wagah in Pakistan.
The fishermen were allowed to cross over the border after verification of their documents.
At present India is exporting soya extracts, green chillies and potatoes.
An improvised explosive device was found from parking area of the Wagah border on Monday, a day after at least 61 people were killed following the flag-lowering ceremony at the main Indo-Pak land border crossing.
At least 54 people, including 11 women and security personnel, were killed and about 200 others injured in a powerful suicide blast in Pakistan at Wagah on Sunday, minutes after the popular flag-lowering ceremony at the Indo-Pak border.
Olympic medallist Saina also attended the Beating Retreat ceremony, a daily flag-lowering ceremony jointly conducted by the BSF and the Pakistan Rangers at the Wagah border, the border outpost located between Amritsar and Lahore.
For the first time since the Pak-India Dosti bus service was launched between New Delhi and Lahore, Pakistan has restricted its entry in Lahore and Nankana Sahib cities, citing increased "terror threats".
The Union Home Ministry has designated 23 individuals based in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) as terrorists under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for their involvement in infiltration, recruitment, logistics, financing, and operational planning targeting India.
At Border Pillar 609 at Babliyan near Jaisalmer, the one thing that dominates the landscape is something entirely different, something central to our identity -- the Tiranga -- flying boldly above the blazing desert.
The death toll in the horrific suicide attack that shook Pakistan minutes after the popular flag-lowering ceremony at Wagah climbed to 61 on Monday. Security agencies have arrested about 20 suspects from the Indo-Pak border area.
As India's deadline for Pakistani citizens to leave the country passed, chaotic scenes unfolded at the Attari-Wagah land crossing in Punjab.
200 passengers travelling to India by Samjhauta Express last Thursday were stopped at the Wagah Border
'Only those who live through these situations understand the true cost of war.'
Meet Deepali Sahay, the singing sensation from Main Waapas Aaunga. Nearly two decades after being voted out of Indian Idol Season 3 and after almost losing her voice to bleeding vocal chords after hosting Season 4, she finally gets the break she deserved with a song for the ages.
Pakistan interested in importing furnace oil, diesel: Pak Petroleum Min.
The Border Security Force (BSF) has scaled down the retreat ceremony held at Attari, Hussainiwala and Sadki along the India-Pakistan border in Punjab following the Pahalgam terrorist attack. The BSF's Punjab frontier said it was suspending the symbolic handshake of the Indian guard commander with the counterpart and the border gates will remain closed during the ceremony. The move is seen as a response to the recent terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir, in which 26 people were killed.
The Border Security Force (BSF) has shot dead a Pakistani intruder along the International Border in Punjab. The man was shot during the intervening night of May 7-8 in the Ferozepur sector, officials said. He was found crossing the International Border purposefully in the dark.
"Pakistani officials told us you are Hindu, you cannot go with a Sikh jatha," said Amar Chand, who was sent back along with six of his family members after they crossed over to the neighbouring nation to participate in the birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev.
A Meerut woman, married to a Pakistani national, was denied entry to Pakistan at the Wagah border after she presented her Indian passport. She was accompanied by her two children who hold Pakistani citizenship. The authorities permitted the children to cross but Sana refused to separate from them, resulting in her return to India.
'Gandhi was Thakur and Gabbar was Jinnah.'
Later in the day, Athletics Federation of India (AFI), the organisers of the event, said the Pakistan contingent has arrived at Wagah border.
Purnam Kumar Shaw, a BSF jawan who was held captive in Pakistan for nearly three weeks, returned to his home in West Bengal's Hooghly district on Friday evening. Shaw was greeted by his family and well-wishers at Howrah station and was escorted to his hometown Rishra, where he was welcomed by people and a band playing patriotic tunes. Shaw had been taken into custody by Pakistan Rangers on April 23, after he inadvertently crossed the international border in Punjab's Ferozepur district.
'I hang my head in shame when I see the kind of respect and reception that has been given to the representative of the world's worst terrorist group Taliban, by those who beat the pulpit against all kinds of terrorists'
The Supreme Court on Friday directed authorities not to deport to Pakistan six members of a family, who allegedly overstayed their visa, till their citizenship claim is verified.
Authorities in Jammu and Kashmir have deported 60 Pakistanis, including the mother of a Shaurya Chakra awardee who was killed in a terror attack. The deportees, comprising wives and children of ex-militants, were taken to Punjab and will be handed over to Pakistani authorities at the Wagah border. The move comes in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack, with the Centre taking several measures against Pakistan.
In a major security breach at the Wagah-Attari border crossing with Pakistan, an NRI crashed his SUV into the security gates at the Attari Joint Check Post in the wee hours of Monday and reached the Zero line at the International Border.
For the ninth consecutive night, Indian and Pakistani troops engaged in small arms fire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir, continuing a pattern of heightened border tensions. The skirmishes, initiated by Pakistani troops in violation of the ceasefire agreement, have led to a tense situation along the LoC and International Border (IB). The incidents come in the wake of the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, which claimed the lives of 26 people, mostly tourists. Civilians residing near the border have begun preparing their bunkers, anticipating potential escalation. Despite a recent hotline conversation between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of India and Pakistan, where India cautioned Pakistan, the ceasefire violations persist.
