Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office on Monday expressed deep disappointment over denial of visas by India to 503 Pakistani pilgrims intending to attend the Urs of Sufi saint Hazrat Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti (RA) at Ajmer Sharif, India.

In a statement, Foreign Office Spokesperson Dr Muhammad Faisal said that the visit was to take place under the 1974 Pakistan-India Protocol. He said that 192 Pakistani pilgrims earlier could not participate in the Urs of Hazrat Khawaja Nizamuddin Aulia (RA) in Delhi in January 2018 due to the non-issuance of visas by India.

Also Sikh pilgrims could not participate in the martyrdom anniversary of Guru Arjan Dev and the death anniversary of Maharaja Ranjit Singh due to delay in issuance of visas by India despite the Pakistani’s offer to send a special train to accommodate Sikh pilgrims, he added. Moreover, 173 Katas Raj pilgrims were forced to withdraw their applications from from the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi. “It is again ironic that this was done on the occasion of Urs of Hazrat Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti (RA) who had for centuries been the symbol of bringing communities closer to each other.” He said such measures undermine efforts aimed at increasing people-to-people contacts and normalising relations between the two countries.

CND adopts Pak’s resolution on drug abuse

The United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), during its 61st regular session, has adopted with consensus a resolution tabled by Pakistan on “strengthening efforts to prevent drug abuse in educational settings”. The meeting was convened in Vienna from March 12 to 16, 2018, stated a Foreign Office in a statement in Monday. The resolution drew the attention of the commission towards the common challenges of drug use among children and youth in schools, colleges and universities’ settings.

It underscored the need for enhanced efforts, including policy interventions and comprehensive drug prevention programmes, to protect children and youth from the scourge of illicit drugs and to make educational settings free from drug abuse. The resolution emphasised the important role of educational settings in promoting healthy lifestyles among young people and called for close coordination among law enforcement, education and health authorities at domestic level.

Published in Daily Times, March 20^th 2018.