Punjab Minorities Affairs Minister Sardar Ramesh Singh Arora has said Pakistan would warmly welcome Indian Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann if he is allowed to travel to the country. The Bhagwant Mann Pakistan visit came up in the Punjab Assembly on Tuesday, when Arora welcomed what he described as Mann’s reported desire to visit.
Arora said Sikhs around the world wanted to visit Pakistan and regarded it as their first homeland. He invited Mann and the Indian Punjab Assembly speaker to visit, saying Pakistan would receive them with open arms.
His remarks linked the proposed visit to the wider issue of Sikh pilgrimage, which already has an established route into Pakistan through the Kartarpur Corridor.
Bhagwant Mann Pakistan visit and the Kartarpur pilgrim limit
Arora told the assembly that an arrangement between Pakistan and India had provided for 5,000 Sikh pilgrims to visit Kartarpur. He said the Indian government had restricted that number to 500.
He urged the Indian government to allow the Sikh community to benefit from the corridor. The gap between the agreed figure and the restricted figure, as stated by Arora, was the practical point behind his invitation.
No date for a visit by Mann was announced in the assembly. Arora’s welcome was conditional, and it depended on Mann being allowed to travel. That distinction matters, because a welcome in the assembly is not the same as a confirmed visit.
Feature Pakistan’s travel coverage of the corridor, in Kartarpur Sahib Travel Guide, sets out the site’s place for Sikh pilgrims. The corridor remains the main regulated route for pilgrims travelling to Kartarpur from India.
Punjab Assembly adopts Kashmir Black Day resolution
The assembly unanimously adopted a resolution marking Kashmir Black Day during the same session. The house expressed concern over reports of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances in Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
The resolution was moved by Finance and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman. It stated that October 27 was a black day for the Kashmiri people, as India had occupied Kashmir on that day.
It said the Pakistani people remained deeply connected with the Kashmiri struggle and valued the sacrifices made by the people of the occupied territory. It called on the international community to take notice of the reported killings and disappearances.
The resolution stressed that the voice of a nation could not be suppressed through force and coercion. It called for a just settlement of the Kashmir issue in accordance with United Nations Security Council resolutions.
Arora also expressed solidarity with the people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. He assured them that Pakistan stood with them in their struggle for the right to self-determination.
Feature Pakistan reported on the Sindh events in Sindh Kashmir Black Day Rallies. The Punjab Assembly resolution added a formal legislative voice to those public events.
Punjab Life Insurance Company plan outlined in the house
Separately, the finance minister told the house that the provincial cabinet had approved the establishment of the Punjab Life Insurance Company in 2024. The company would sit under the finance department and provide facilities to government employees at low premiums.
Rehman was responding to treasury benches member Amjad Ali Javed during the question hour. He said the process of preparing the memorandum and articles of association required for the company’s registration would be initiated.
He said the proposed company would immediately have access to around a million clients from government institutions. He expressed confidence that it would become a successful venture, bringing billions of rupees into the business.
Under the proposed framework, the company would undertake life insurance-related business in accordance with the Insurance Ordinance, 2000. That work would include children’s endowment plans, health cover and other services.
Mann has featured in Feature Pakistan coverage before, in Bhagwant Mann Lahore Punjabi Conference Wish. Minorities rights in Pakistan were also covered in HRCP Minorities Rights Report Pakistan.
What happens next
For now, the position is clear on only one point. Punjab’s minorities minister has said Pakistan would welcome Mann. Whether Mann travels depends on permission from the Indian government, and no timetable has been set out.
