Islamabad: Pakistan has issued a visa to Indian national Sikka Khan to visit his brother and family in Pakistan after a heartwarming viral video captured their tearful reunion 74 years after they were separated by the India-Pakistan partition in 1947.
The Pakistan High Commission in India on Friday issued the visa to the Indian citizen to facilitate the family reunion in Pakistan after seven decades.
Sikka Khan met his elder brother Muhammed Sadiq Khan for the first time since separation on January 10 at the Kartarpur peace corridor. “I am delighted that I have got the visa. I will now travel to Pakistan to meet my brother and other family members,” he said in a video message.
Kartarpar bringing people closer
“The story of the two brothers is a powerful illustration of how the historic opening of the visa-free Kartarpur Sahib Corridor in November 2019 by Pakistan is bringing people closer to each other,” the Pakistan High Commission said. In late 2019, Pakistan opened the visa-free Kartarpur crossing to allow Indian Sikh pilgrims access to one of the holiest sites of their religion, Gurdwara Darbar Sahib.
Brothers reunited
The two brothers were separated in August 1947 when Sikka Khan’s father and elder brother, Sadiq, left Phulewala village in Indian Punjab and returned to their village of Bogran in Pakistan.
Pakistan issued the visa to the Indian man after the emotional reunion video of the two brothers went viral in Pakistan and India. Sikka and Sadiq got in touch through Pakistani YouTuber Nasir Dhillon whose channel has helped reunite about 200 families.
In the video, Sadiq rushes into Sikka’s arms as his brother soothes him, with tears flowing down their cheeks. They spent three hours together at the Kartarpur corridor but had to be separated again at sundown when the site closes. But they will be reunited soon. With Pakistan’s visa stamped on his passport, Sikka Khan is all set to travel to Pakistan to make up for all the years lost.
