Minister for Religious Affairs Noor ul Haq Qadri says after the success of Road to Makkah project in Islamabad, the project will be expanded to include other cities of the country.

Speaking in a program of News and Current Affairs Channel of Radio Pakistan on Sunday, he said Road to Makkah project is a significant achievement in hajj journey.

This project started from pilgrims of Indonesia and Malaysia which helped saving a lot of precious time in immigration and custom procedures.

The Minister appreciated the role of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman who played a role in granting of this facility to Pakistani pilgrims.

He said the project has started on experimental basis at Islamabad Airport and later it will be expanded to include Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta, Faisalabad and other cities.

He said two and three new cities will be added into this project next year. The Minister said twenty five to thirty thousand pilgrims from Islamabad will benefit from this facility.

Noor ul Haq Qadri said the number of intending pilgrims from Pakistan has reached to two hundred thousand from one hundred and seventy five thousand.

The Minister termed the granting of e-visa facility to Pakistani pilgrims by Saudi authorities a good step as it was a long-standing demand of Pakistan.

Earlier, the facility was extended only to pilgrims from France, Algeria, Morocco and Nigeria. He said e-visa facility would ensure hassle free granting of visa to Pakistani intending pilgrims.