Karachi, a big city in Pakistan, has been added to a special project by Saudi Arabia called the ‘Road to Makkah.’ This project will help people who are going on the Hajj pilgrimage next year. Instead of waiting in long lines in Saudi Arabia, they can do their immigration paperwork in Karachi.
The religious affairs minister, Aneeq Ahmed, confirmed that Karachi is now part of this project. He met with the Saudi Ambassador and a representative from the Muslim World League to discuss this.
The ‘Road to Makkah’ project started helping pilgrims leaving from Islamabad this year. The minister visited Saudi Arabia and talked about expanding it to Lahore and Karachi for the next Hajj.
This project is part of Saudi Arabia’s plan to make things easier for pilgrims. It gives them visas and services at their own country’s airports. They also get on buses that take them to where they’ll stay in Makkah and Madina, and their luggage is delivered to them. This saves them from a lot of trouble when they arrive in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia renews this agreement every year with countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, Morocco, and Bangladesh. It was renewed in May when Saudi Arabia’s deputy interior minister visited Pakistan and met with the interior minister at that time, Rana Sanaullah.