Pakistan says willing to issue visa to Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann for visit

On November 6, 2026, Pakistan indicated its willingness to grant a visa to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann if he desired a visit to the country. Foreign Office Spokesperson Sajjad Haider Khan clarified during a media briefing that the decision was contingent upon Mr. Mann's intention to travel to Pakistan. He emphasized that the approval of an Indian visa would be a separate matter.

In October, Mann had expressed his invitation to the World Punjabi Conference in Lahore on November 27, while questioning his own travel authorization to Pakistan. He stated, "Our culture is the same. Many poets from here will go there." Mann had also advocated for all legislators of the Punjab Legislative Assembly to visit Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan once the Kartarpur Corridor reopened.

The corridor, connecting Dera Baba Nanak in India's Punjab to the Sikh shrine Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, Pakistan, was established to allow Indian pilgrims visa-free access to the site. However, the corridor had been closed since May 7, 2025, due to India's missile strikes on terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Pakistan Foreign Office Spokesperson Sajjad Haider Khan reaffirmed the country's readiness to facilitate pilgrims from all faiths upon the restoration of the corridor. The foreign office had issued over 9,000 visas to Indian religious pilgrims in 2025, including Sikh and Hindu groups, and had granted more than 4,000 additional visas to Sikh pilgrims during the first half of the year.

Khan highlighted that Pakistan had established the Kartarpur Corridor as a special initiative to accommodate Sikh pilgrims, allowing over 5,000 to visit the shrine daily. The 1974 Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines between Pakistan and India provided a framework for such pilgrimages. Khan also mentioned ongoing efforts to preserve and protect Buddhist heritage sites in Taxila and Takht-i-Bahi, with a special task force established for this purpose.