Minister for Religious Affairs Noor-ul-Haq Qadri has said that the government of Saudi Arabia has not yet taken a decision on the number of pilgrims to perform Hajj.
He uploaded a video message on Sunday on his Twitter account after a conversation with Saudi minister.
He said in his message that the Saudi health ministry has made recommendations about the number of pilgrims and Covid-19 SOPs, but a final decision has yet to taken.
The minister said that the Saudi government will take Pakistan into confidence on the number of pilgrims, Covid-19 SOPs and vaccination.
Earlier, Noor-ul-Haq Qadri had said that that the Saudi government has allowed 60,000 – 15,000 locals and 45,000 from abroad – pilgrims from across the world to perform Hajj under strict coronavirus SOPs.
He could say how many pilgrims from Pakistan would be allowed to perform Hajj this year.
He said that a coronavirus vaccination certificate and PCR negative test will be mandatory for pilgrims to perform Hajj this year.
The minister said Pakistan has requested the Saudi government to approve the Chinese vaccine as well to facilitate Pakistani pilgrims.
