How 150 Pakistani-Sindhi Brides Crossed Visa Hurdles To Marry In India Post Op Sindoor

Many hearts across the salt desert were starved after India shut the visa and border routes for Sindhi visitors from Pakistan following Operation Sindoor. For decades, families from Pakistan's Sindh province have used the hassle-free visas and movement through the Wagah-Attari border to marry their children in India, but visa restrictions since last year have put hundreds of unions on hold.

Now, the government of India has come to the rescue of at least 150 Pakistani women, who have been engaged to men in India and were waiting to settle down in their marital homes.

'Wait Is Over'

Community leader Rajesh Jhambia told news agency PTI that the Centre later issued visas to the brides and their relatives, allowing them to reach India through transit routes in other countries. 

"The long wait is over, finally," said Jhambia, who works for Sindhi migrants from Pakistan.

"The brides and their families have arrived in India through transit routes via Muscat, Dubai, Sri Lanka, and other countries."

According to Jhambia, members of the Sindhi community used to visit India through the Wagah-Attari border in Punjab for such weddings. 

"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.

India launched Operation Sindoor in 2025 in response to a deadly terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, which claimed the lives of 26 civilians.

The Journey To India

Jhambia said that after the visa service was halted, they approached the Raipur-based Sant Yudhishtirlal Shadaani --the spiritual head of Shadaani Darbar, a prominent Hindu religious shrine in Ghotki in Pakistan's Sindh province -- who started preparing a list of Pakistani women already engaged to men in India. 

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

The temple contacted the Ministry of Home Affairs with the list and urged the authorities to facilitate visas for these brides and their families to enable them to travel to India. The MHA allowed the visitors from across the border to enter India only on the condition that they would have to travel 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," he said.

Jhambia said there are nearly 300 more such women in Pakistan waiting and that they have requested the Indian government to issue visas to them as well.