Pakistan’s interior ministry announced on Monday that the deputy interior minister of Saudi Arabia would “soon” travel there to sign the Makkah Route agreement
As part of Saudi Vision 2030, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud launched the Guests of God Service Program in 2019, which includes the Makkah Route initiative. According to the program, Hajj pilgrims receive visas and other services, like baggage facilities, at the airports of their respective nations.
Every Muslim adult who is financially and physically capable of doing so must make the Hajj, a pilgrimage to the holy places of Makkah and Madinah, once in his lifetime. One of the crucial five foundations of the Islamic religion, it.
For the second year in a row, pilgrims from Pakistan used the Makkah Route initiative. Bangladesh, Morocco, Malaysia, and Indonesia are also included in the program.
Rana Sanaullah, the interior minister of Pakistan, visited Nawaf bin Said Al-Malki, the Saudi ambassador to Pakistan, on Monday at the Saudi embassy in Islamabad. The two assessed progress on the Makkah Route initiative and spoke about bilateral issues and topics of shared interest, according to the interior ministry.
The agreement would be signed during the “soon” visit to Pakistan by the Saudi deputy interior minister, the ministry announced. According to the statement, both parties have agreed to ensure that the agreement is “fully functional” and finish it.
According to the announcement, “Hajj pilgrims would receive simple and hassle-free immigration services.” The major cities of [Pakistan] will soon be the starting point for this initiative.
The Saudi envoy told Sanaullah that Riyadh would take action to ensure the early release of Pakistani captives from Saudi prisons at Sanaullah’s request.
The interior minister commended Al-Malki for attempting to improve bilateral ties between the two nations. He declared that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have “historical, prolonged, and brotherly relations.”
This month, Saudi Arabia removed the 65-year-old age restriction for performing the annual pilgrimage and reinstated Pakistan’s pre-coronavirus Hajj quota of 179,210 pilgrims.
