pakistan 
The Ministry of Interior of Saudi Arabia has brought forth the ‘Road to Makkah’ initiative for 2022 to facilitate Hajj pilgrims of Pakistan and five other countries after much anticipation.
The initiative, which also includes Malaysia, Morocco, Indonesia, and Bangladesh, was first launched in 2019.
The Saudi ministry, in an official statement, said the initiative aimed to receive the pilgrims and get done with their procedures from their countries with ease.
It stated that in a meeting on Hajj under the project, Minister for Religious Affairs (MORA) Mufti Abdul Shakoor and Saudi Ambassador Nawaf bin Saeed al-Maliki expressed satisfaction over the arrangements for the pilgrims at Islamabad Airport.
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The state-run channel said the Saudi gazette would ensure the start of the initiative by issuing the visa electronically, taking the vital characteristics, followed by procedures at the airport of the country of departure after the verification of the health requirements.
It is pertinent to state that the procedure includes sorting and coding the luggage to send to their place of residency in the kingdom.
It added that upon their arrival, the pilgrims would move to buses to take them to their residence in Makkah and Madina with set paths while the service authorities would deliver their luggage to their places of residency.
It concluded by stating that the ministry implements the initiative with the ministries of foreign affairs, Hajj, health, Umrah, civil aviation, and the tax, Zakat, and customs authorities.
