LAHORE: At least 193 nationals, who were stranded in India following the outbreak of the coronavirus, were repatriated via the Wagah border crossing on Tuesday.
The stranded nationals, including women and children, were screened and transferred to quarantine centres as they crossed over into Lahore.
Reportedly, these citizens had gone to India on family visits, medical treatment and attending religious ceremonies.
Several nationals had reached the border crossing on Monday evening but were sent back by India’s Border Security Force (BSF) and spent the night in Amritsar. Later, they arrived at the border in several groups.
As per the breakdown, one person arrived from Burhanpur, Jodhpur and Ludhiana each; two from Kolkata; three each from Agra, Raebareli, Rampur, Kaushambi, Kohlapur, Kota and Ferozepur; four from Gurugram; five from Lucknow and Bhopal; six each from Bijnor and Anand; seven from Jalgaon; nine from Mumbai, Delhi, Raipur and Jaipur; 12 from Ahmedabad; 33 from Madhya Pradesh and 49 returned from Nagpur.
Earlier this month, around 41 Pakistanis returned home via the Wagah border in the first phase.
Ehsan Ahmed, a repatriated citizen, had shared that he had gone to India on March 12 and was expected to return by March 19. However, he couldn’t return due to the lockdown.
“I will appeal to all the Pakistanis stranded in India to remain confined to their homes and virtually remain in contact with the Pakistan High Commission. The Pakistan embassy is making efforts for the return of all Pakistanis,” he said.
