KARACHI – Pakistan’s southern metropolis, Karachi has been included in the ‘Road to Makkah’ project by the government of Saudi Arabia.
The initiative would help the pilgrims for next year’s Hajj as they would be able to complete immigration facilities in Karachi instead of waiting in queues in Saudi Arabia.
The inclusion of Karachi was confirmed by the caretaker religious affairs minister Aneeq Ahmed who met Saudi Ambassador Nawaf Saeed Al Maliki and Regional Director of Muslim World League (MWL) Saadul Harsi on Wednesday.
The ‘Road to Makkah’ project helped pilgrims departing from Islamabad this year but the religious affairs minister recently visited Saudi Arabia and discussed its expansion to Lahore and Karachi as well for the upcoming Hajj.
The ‘Road to Makkah’ initiative is part of Saudi Arabia’s Guests of God Service Program, which King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud inaugurated in 2019 under Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030. The agreement is renewed every year with countries including Malaysia, Indonesia, Morocco, and Bangladesh.
As per the initiative, Hajj pilgrims are issued visas and provided other services, such as baggage facilities, at their respective countries’ airports. Not only that, the pilgrims move directly to buses to take them to their places of residence in Makkah and Madina while their luggage is delivered to them; it saves pilgrims from many hassles upon arriving in Saudi Arabia.
The agreement was renewed in May as Saudi Arabia’s deputy interior minister, Dr. Nasser bin Abdul Aziz Al-Dawood arrived in Pakistan and met then-interior minister Rana Sanaullah.
