Govt vows to promote religious tourism

Punjab government spokesperson Hasaan Khawar said on Tuesday that every effort is being made to ensure that foreign guests visiting religious places spend a memorable time in Pakistan.

He was talking to the media at Wagah border while seeing off 159 Hindu pilgrims from India after their four-day tour to the country. Pakistan Hindu Council chairperson MNA Ramesh Kumar was also present.

Khawar said the main purpose of such initiatives was to promote religious tolerance between the people of the two countries.

Punjab government was providing roads and other facilities for easy access to all religious places, he added.

The spokesman said the share of religious tourism in world tourism was 40% while the ratio in the province was very low. He said the Punjab chief minister was pursuing the policy of promoting religious tourism in the province. "We are committed to attracting tourists from all over the world to be our ambassadors."

Khawar said the Kartarpur Corridor was a game changer project of the government.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 5^th, 2022.