Pakistan seeks 'Makkah Route' expanded to major cities — minister

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan eyes Saudi Arabia’s flagship Makkah Route initiative expanded to more Pakistani cities this year, giving a greater number of pilgrims easier access to Hajj pilgrimage, said the Minister for Religious Affairs Noorul Haq Qadri.
“We are in touch with the Saudi authorities to expand this initiative to four major airports,” the minister said at a press conference after a federal cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
Referring to the program’s successful pilot project in Islamabad last year, he said that around 22,000 Pakistani Hajj pilgrims had benefitted from it.
He added that if Peshawar, Lahore, Karachi and Quetta airports were added to the initiative, some 80,000 pilgrims would further benefit from the pre-departure immigration facility.
The federal cabinet approved Hajj Policy 2020 on Tuesday, under which 179,210 Pakistanis will perform the Hajj this year, with a maximum cost of the pilgrimage capped at Rs490,000 per person.
“We have succeeded to bring down the Hajj cost with the help of Saudi officials,” Qadri said, citing increased airfares, higher health insurance, compulsory visa fees and currency devaluation in recent months as the reason for the earlier spike in pilgrimage expenses.
Makkah Route initiative was finalized during Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s maiden visit to Pakistan in February 2019. Under the program, pilgrims are cleared for immigration and customs before departure.