A lot of travelers want to know if it’s possible to travel from Pakistan to India (or India to Pakistan). I’m here to say yes—yes it is! Here are ways to travel from Pakistan to India, border crossing tips, and more.
India and Pakistan are like brothers. Despite their tensions and occasional fights, they’re cut from the same cloth, and there are just as many similarities between the two as there are differences. It makes sense that curious travelers are always interested in visiting both countries!
But before they do, they always ask the same questions: can you travel from Pakistan to India? Is it allowed to travel from India to Pakistan?
By now, I’ve spent literal years in both countries, acquired several visas for both countries, and have traveled between the two multiple times. So yes, it’s possible. Here’s what you need to know if you want to travel from Pakistan to India or India to Pakistan.
Table of Contents: Travel from Pakistan to India
- Visas to travel between Pakistan and India
- Is it safe to travel from Pakistan to India?
- Visa problems when traveling from Pakistan to India
- Border crossings between Pakistan and India
- Trains between Pakistan and India
- Flights between Pakistan and India
- Driving between Pakistan and India
Most important: visas to travel between Pakistan and India
How you travel from Pakistan to India depends primarily on one factor: which visas you have for the two countries.
Visas to travel from Pakistan to India
Traveling from Pakistan to India is more complicated; India has more strict requirements about what visas can be used where.
If you’re in Pakistan already and you have an e-visa for India, the only way you can enter India from Pakistan is to fly in. There are no direct flights to India from Pakistan—surprise surprise, the countries don’t get along!—so the cheapest way to fly from Pakistan to India is to go to Dubai with one of the many budget airlines operating in Pakistan, then look for a Dubai to New Delhi flight.
However, if you have a sticker visa for India in your passport, you can enter India from Pakistan by land at the Wagah Border. You must apply for this visa in an Indian embassy, either in your home country or on the road. It is possible to apply for an Indian visa in Pakistan; you can apply for an Indian visa through a visa service in Islamabad, Pakistan.
Visas to travel from India to Pakistan
This direction is much easier! If you’re already in India, no matter what Indian visa you have — e-visa or sticker visa—you can enter Pakistan by land. Pakistan uses an e-visa system, but once you have your e-visa, you can use it at any airport or land border. If you want to come back to India after visiting Pakistan, make sure your Indian e-visa is a multiple-entry visa!
Still need to apply for your Pakistan e-visa? I work together with a local company in Pakistan to offer some of the cheapest Pakistan letters of invitation on the market.
Is it safe to travel from Pakistan to India?
Yes, at the time of writing, it’s extremely safe (and common) for tourists to travel from Pakistan to India or vice versa. Though the two countries do not get along, the area near the Wagah Border is very safe and secure. There’s a border closing ceremony that happens every day in front of thousands of local and foreign tourists; if it wasn’t safe, they wouldn’t let us watch!
There are occasional skirmishes along other parts of the India-Pakistan border. However, most of them are in the Kashmir region, and foreign tourists are not allowed to go close to the border—also known as the Line of Control, LOC—in those areas. Not that you need to, anyway; the only border crossing between Pakistan and India is the Wagah Border near Lahore.
As for travel within either country, yes, definitely safe enough to travel. Travel in Pakistan can be a bit more complicated than travel in India—India sees way more tourists, after all, unless you’re in offbeat destinations in India—but both are a treat to travel for those who don’t mind a little bit of chaos every now and then.
I’ve traveled extensively in both Pakistan and India over the years, and never had a problem with obtaining visas for either!
Will I have visa problems if I say I want to travel from Pakistan to India?
Many travelers hoping to go from Pakistan to India are afraid that future visa applications will be rejected if they visit the neighboring country… or that they’ll face scrutiny inside either country once there.
Not quite! As I said already, I’ve traveled from Pakistan to India and India to Pakistan multiple times without serious issues.
Occasionally at the Wagah border, I was regarded with some curious looks… but I’d gone on several visa runs from Pakistan to India, some lasting as little as 5 minutes. Any customs official would be confused if they saw someone turn right around 5 minutes after entering the country!
When entering India for the very first time (by air at that time), the customs officer gave me a look when he saw my Pakistan visa. He asked me about my visit there, but more as a segue into trying to convince me that India is better than Pakistan (sigh) rather than creating problems for me. He ended up stamping my passport—right over the Pakistan stamp because petty—so in the end, all was well.
Which border crossing should I use for overland travel from Pakistan to India?
The Wagah border is the only open border crossing to travel from Pakistan to India. It’s about 1 hour away from Lahore and is easily accessible by taxi or rickshaw.
If crossing from India to Pakistan or vice versa, make sure to get to the border by the early afternoon; the border closes around 3 PM so they can prepare for the border closing ceremony that happens around sunset every evening.
Check out my guide to the Wagah border crossing between Pakistan and India for more detailed information on how to cross the border overland.
Are there trains that travel from Pakistan to India?
There used to be one train route running between Pakistan and India… but alas, at the time of writing, the Pakistan-India train line is closed. Security tensions between the two countries were one reason for the closure, and a lack of traffic was another. Trains in Pakistan and India are always a delight, so I’m hoping the train line will reopen to tourists, families, and business travelers sometime in the coming years!
Train travel in Pakistan and India is a delight… but you can’t travel from Pakistan to India by train at the moment, unfortunately.
Are there flights from Pakistan to India?
Years ago, PIA (Pakistan International Airlines) operated flights to and from India. These days, that option is out; there wasn’t enough demand. There are currently no direct flights between any destinations in Pakistan and India. If you want to fly from Pakistan to India, you need to connect somewhere else in the Middle East. It’s very easy to find budget flights to Dubai, Qatar, or Abu Dhabi from Pakistan. I recommend taking a budget flight out of Pakistan to Dubai, then booking a Dubai to New Delhi flight so you can avail India’s easy e-visa services.
Can vehicles travel from Pakistan to India?
Yes, it’s possible to cross the Wagah border and travel from Pakistan to India or India to Pakistan in/on your own vehicle!
If you’re on a bicycle, it’s extremely easy to cross; the process is the same as crossing the border on foot.
If you’re traveling by car, motorcycle, or some other motorized vehicle, you’ll need to have a Carnet de Passage for both Pakistan and India. The border is not particularly complicated in regards to customs; just make sure that you get the correct exit and entry stamps on your CdP before leaving the border area.
Thanks. It was good to read it. Lots of good info and tips. I am interested to visit India and this article was very informative and helpful. I was born in India before the partition and I yearn to visit my place of birth before I breathe my last.
.Zaki Sabih
Thank you very much for this article!
Very informative read!
I am planning on arriving overland through Pakistan and then crossing into India.
It will not be possible for me to get an Indian visa in my home country as it will run out before I get there.
Can you share which visa service you were mentioning in Islamabad?
Thanks!
If I Travel from uk to pakistan by flight with a British passport and then go India via wagah border by road . Can I select : wagah rail station as my Departure port on my Pakistan e visa application . Or will it be a problem. Please tell me as I no one seems to have the answer to this .
Hi! I plan to go to India for a month, then Pakistan for few days and then back to India for a bit more before flying back to Thailand.
I’d do both crossings over Wagah border but you said in case of Pakistan-India crossing it’s not possible – need sticker visa instead of e-visa.. How long is the process to get a sticker visa for India in embassy in Islamabad?
But then you said it’s also ok with multiple entry tourist e-visa for India to cross Wagah border back to India?
So no need for sticker visa?
Multiple entry tourist visa will do it on Wagah border crossing from Pakistan back to India?
Bit confused 😅
Looking forward to your feedback!
Thank you 🙏🏽
Hi I planed to to india from pakistan by car for I year of 2024 and then I get flight to Muscat by delhi airport it is possible or not I have no pakistani nationality I want to get omani nationality Pakistan is not a good country for me I am from gulf of Saudi arabia I live in saudi arabia for 10 years then I leave s audia arabia due to tex