LAHORE - The Delhi-bound Samjhauta Express, carrying around 200 both Indian and Pakistani passengers, was not allowed entry into India owing to security issues on Thursday.
The PR spokesman Rauf Tahir said the train carrying 193 passengers ? both Pakistani and Indian nationals ? was stopped upon reaching the Wagah Border and 57 Pakistani passengers were requested to offload from the train. Some TV channels, however, reported the number of total passengers as 216 out of which 57 were Pakistanis.
“India offered entry only to their own nationals, which the Pakistani officials rejected,” an official of the Railways told The Nation. The ongoing protests of farmers in Indian Punjab are said to be the reason behind ban on the train’s entry. There could be possible security threat to Pakistani passengers on board so Indian Railways officials denied them entry.
The Railways issued certificates to allow the Indian nationals, whose visas to Pakistan expired. The train will, now, leave for India on Monday.