Pakistani brides from Sindh reach India for weddings through transit routes after Operation Sindoor visa restrictions ease

Around 150 Pakistani women engaged to men in India have travelled to the country for their weddings after the Centre issued visas to them and their relatives.

The women and their families entered India through transit routes via Dubai, Oman, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and other countries after India stopped visa and border movement for Sindhi visitors following Operation Sindoor.

“The long wait is over, finally,” Rajesh Jhambia, a Nagpur-based community leader who works with Sindhi migrants from Pakistan, told PTI on Sunday.


Jhambia said the brides and their relatives had earlier travelled through the Wagah-Attari border in Punjab. However, the route was closed for Sindhi visitors after Operation Sindoor, a 2025 military campaign launched by India following the Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir that killed 26 civilians.

“Everything changed after Operation Sindoor, as the government rejected visas to all those who were planning to visit the country via the Attari route,” he said.

The visa restrictions left the weddings of at least 150 Pakistani women on hold. The women were engaged to men in India and were waiting to move to their marital homes.

Jhambia said the families then approached Sant Yudhishtirlal Shadaani, the spiritual head of Shadaani Darbar in Raipur. The shrine is a prominent Hindu religious centre in Ghotki, Pakistan’s Sindh province.

The Shadaani Darbar prepared a list of Pakistani women engaged to men in India and sent it to the Ministry of Home Affairs. The temple also requested visas for the women and their families.

“There were about 150 brides who were to be married in Nagpur, Raipur, Jodhpur, Pune and other cities in India,” Jhambia said.

The Ministry of Home Affairs allowed the visitors to enter India on the condition that they travelled by air, he said.

“Since April this year, 150 brides and their families from Pakistan have travelled to India via Dubai, Oman, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and other countries for the weddings. These include 15 cases from Nagpur,” Jhambia said.

He added that nearly 300 more women in Pakistan were waiting to travel to India for their weddings. Community representatives have requested the Indian government to issue visas to them as well.