LAHORE, April 4: The Evacuee Trust Board has completed all arrangements to receive some 3,000 Sikhs likely to reach here from India on Monday to participate in the Besakhi festival this month.

“All arrangements for their lodging and boarding have been completed,” Board chairman Inayatullah Khan and Pak Singh Gurduwara Parbandh Committee chairman Sardar Sham Singh told a joint press conference here on Thursday.

They said the Pakistani embassy in New Delhi was issuing visas to the visitors. They feared, however, that the Indian government might not allow them to travel to Pakistan this year.

Sardar Sham Singh urged the Indian government not to stop the visitors from coming to Pakistan and participating in the Basakhi mela. Their visit, he said, would help improve the relations between the two countries.