ISLAMABAD: A 14-member delegation from Saudi Arabia is expected to visit Pakistan on March 31 in order to examine immigration facilities at various airports in the country, officials said on Wednesday.
The move is part of measures to facilitate more than 184,000 Hajj pilgrims as part of the Kingdom’s Road to Makkah project.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had formally granted permission to include Pakistan in the “Road to Makkah Project” – an initiative to facilitate pilgrims from across the Muslim world – during his visit to Islamabad in February.
“Pakistan’s inclusion in this project is nothing less than a blessing,” Imran Siddique, spokesman for Ministry of Religious Affairs, told Arab News on Wednesday.
He said that the Saudi delegation, comprising top government officials, would be checking arrangements for a seamless immigration process at the airports.
“They will assess the need of the staff to be deployed at our four major airports including Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar to get the immigration of all the pilgrims done here,” he said.
Terming it as a “great achievement” for Pakistani pilgrims, the spokesman also thanked the Saudi crown prince for extending the facility. Hajj flights from Pakistan to Saudi Arabia will begin from the first week of July.
A total of 184,210 pilgrims from Pakistan will perform Hajj this year, out of which 107,526 Pakistanis will perform Hajj on the government’s quota, while more than 76,000 will be using services offered by private tour and Hajj operators.
Siddique clarified that local immigration facilities will also be extended to those individuals who are not part of the government’s program and are planning their pilgrimage with private tour operators.
During his visit, the Saudi crown prince had signed agreements worth $20 billion in different fields including petrochemicals and renewable energy. “We believe Pakistan is going to be a very very important country in the future and we want to be sure we are part of that,” he said in his address at the inaugural session of the Supreme Coordination Council, co-chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan and the crown prince.
Abuzar Butt, a private tour and Hajj operator, said that the completion of all immigration-related formalities at Pakistani airports will help Pakistani pilgrims, especially the elders, to save a lot of time and hassle.
“The local immigration means our pilgrims will go through the immigration process in Pakistan, saving them the hassle of going to the immigration counters once they reach Saudi Arabia,” he told Arab News.
Saudi officials’ visit to check Pakistan’s Hajj immigration facilities
Saudi officials’ visit to check Pakistan’s Hajj immigration facilities
- Kingdom to deploy staff at airports in the country to facilitate pilgrims
- More than 180,000 to perform Hajj this year
Pakistan PM praises stuntman ‘Sultan Golden’ for breaking record for fastest reverse car driving
- Sultan Muhammad Khan drove one mile in reverse in just 57 seconds to set new world record, local media widely reported
- Khan previously broke world record for longest motorbike ramp jump in 1987, managing a 249-feet long jump in Lahore
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari praised renowned stuntman Sultan Muhammad Khan, popularly known as “Sultan Golden,” for breaking the world record for fastest reverse driving a car on Saturday.
As per local media reports, Khan achieved the feat in the capital of Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province Quetta, when he drove one mile in reserve in just 57 seconds.
“Sultan Golden has made Pakistan proud across the world,” Sharif said in a statement released by his office.
The Pakistani prime minister said his government is committed to providing all possible facilities in every field of sports.
Zardari also heaped praise on the stuntman for setting the new world record.
“He said the achievement reflects the skill, courage and dedication of Pakistanis, strengthening Pakistan’s positive image globally and wished him continued success,” the president’s official X account wrote.
Khan has been performing stunts since the 1980s in Pakistan, a country where motorsports does not gain traction due to a lack of infrastructure and popularity of other sports such as cricket, football and squash.
Khan, who hails from the southwestern city of Pasni, earned the nickname ‘Golden’ early on in his youth for his iconic curly golden hair.
In March 1987, he entered his name in the Guinness Book of World Records when he performed the longest motorbike ramp jump in Lahore. Khan managed a 249-feet long jump, beating the previous record by two feet.
