Passports of 23 Indians 'misplaced' by Pak High Commission declared 'lost': Govt

New Delhi: The Centre on Wednesday said it has declared the passports of 23 Indians as "lost" after learning that the documents were misplaced by the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi.

"The Ministry of External Affairs has received information that a total 23 passports have been misplaced by the High Commission of Pakistan in New Delhi. To prevent misuse of these passports, all the passports have been declared as 'lost' in the passport database," Union Minister Sushma Swaraj said in Lok Sabha.

Swaraj said that she has directed concerned authorities to be cautious while processing applications of the affected persons for re-issuance of their passports.

The Indians whose passports went missing were Sikhs who had applied for their visas at the Pakistan High Commission to visit Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan.

Pakistan had issued visas to over 3,800 Sikh pilgrims for the birthday anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev in Kartarpur Sahib from November 21 to November 30.

Several people had approached the police after their passports went missing.