Road to Makkah

Islamabad and Riyadh on Wednesday signed an agreement to launch the “Road to Makkah” project, which aims to simplify the immigration process for Pakistanis traveling to Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj and Umrah.

Under the agreement, intending pilgrims would be provided with immigration facilities in Pakistan and would be exempted from being processed at Saudi airports.

The service will initially be available at the Islamabad International Airport, where around 26,000 pilgrims would use the facility, the Prime Minister’s House (PMO) said. It will later be expanded to Karachi and Lahore airports.

Saudi Deputy Interior Minister

The agreement was signed at the PMO by Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and Saudi Deputy Interior Minister Dr. Nasir Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Dawood.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Saudi Ambassador to Islamabad Nawaf bin Said Al-Malki witnessed the ceremony.

Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Senator Talha Mahmood, Federal Minister for Narcotics Control Nawab zada Shahzain Bugti and Special Assistant to Prime Minister Tariq Fatemi were also present.

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia also signed a joint minute of a meeting where they discussed issuing Pakistani passports to Burmese Muslims living in Saudi Arabia.

According to details, passports of Burmese Muslims were not renewed after 2012, causing them some trouble in the kingdom.

Under this arrangement, passports would be issued to these people and their children to improve their legal status in Saudi Arabia.

According to the discussion, a bilateral committee consisting of representatives of Saudi Arabia and the Ministry of Interior will be formed to resolve the early release of documents to Burmese Muslims.

After the ceremony, the Prime Minister presented a souvenir to the Saudi dignitary, who also reciprocated the gesture by presenting Mr. Sharif with a memento.

Prime Minister bashed Imran

The prime minister had earlier said on Twitter that the roots of the “seditious attack” on the state, its symbols and sensitive facilities on May 9 lay in the content of PTI chairman Imran Khan’s speeches over the last one year.

Mr. Khan “has freely used religious imagery to frame his political agitation as a war between truth and falsehood. He relentlessly targeted and attacked the armed forces and the sitting army chief and very craftily prepared his cult with ‘Haqeeqi Azadi’ slogans aimed at inciting the violence we witnessed on May 9,” the Prime Minister tweeted.

“Listen to his speeches and you’ll get your answers,” he said, using the hashtag “Say No to May 9.”

History

Road to Makkah is a Saudi initiative to streamline the immigration process for pilgrims to Mecca. The initiative was launched in 2019 by the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah (Saudi Arabia) and was implemented in five countries: Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Morocco and Bangladesh.

The Journey to Mecca initiative is part of Saudi Arabia’s efforts to make the Hajj pilgrimage more convenient and efficient for pilgrims. This initiative was praised by many pilgrims who said that it made the process of traveling to Makkah much easier.

Under the Journey to Mecca initiative, pilgrims can complete their immigration requirements at their home country’s airport before departing for Saudi Arabia. This saves pilgrims a few hours upon arrival in the kingdom, as they can simply enter the country without having to go through immigration again.

Source: Dawn New