The Sindh government has announced a public holiday on April 23 (Tuesday) in the Karachi division to “avoid inconvenience to the general public” upon the visit of foreign dignitaries, including Iranian President Dr Ebrahim Raisi.

Earlier today, the Foreign Office (FO) said that the Iranian president would undertake an official visit to Pakistan from April 22 (Monday) to April 24 (Wednesday).

“The Iranian president will be accompanied by his spouse and a high-level delegation comprising the foreign minister and other members of the cabinet, senior officials as well as a large business delegation,” the FO said.

“He will also visit Lahore and Karachi and meet with the provincial leadership,” it added.

According to a notification — a copy of which is available with Dawn.com — issued by Karachi Commissioner Syed Hassan Naqvi’s office today, all the government and private offices, and public and private educational institutions would remain closed except the essential services and officials involved in emergency duties.

No such announcements have been made by the administrations in Islamabad and Lahore — the other two cities on the Iranian delegation’s itinerary.

It is the second public holiday of the month announced by the Sindh government. Previously, it had declared April 4 as a public holiday on account of the death anniversary of former prime minister and PPP founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

Additional reporting by Rana Bilal, Shakeel Qarar