Road to Makkah.

Earlier this week, the Pakistani government and Saudi officials signed an agreement to initiate the 'Road to Makkah' project aimed at simplifying the immigration process for Pakistanis travelling to Saudi Arabia to perform Haj and Umrah. Historically, Pakistanis have visited Saudi Arabia in large swathes to perform the pilgrimage. The new agreement will further ease the process as intending pilgrims will be provided with immigration facilities in Pakistan and would be exempted from the process at Saudi airports.

The agreement is part of Saudi Arabia's Guests of God Service Programme, which King Mohammad Bin Salman inaugurated in 2019 under the Kingdom's Vision 2030 to diversify the economy. Initially, the service will be available at Islamabad Airport but will be later extended to Lahore and Karachi airports. Government officials have claimed that they are working to extend the service to more cities. This agreement is a monumental step as pilgrims will avoid waiting in long...