The Indian cabinet on Thursday approved construction of the Kartarpur corridor to facilitate Sikh pilgrims’ easy passage to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan.
Sikh pilgrims’ visa-free entry: Construction of Kartarpur corridor to begin soon
Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh welcomed the ‘landmark’ decision to construct a corridor from Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district to the international border with modern amenities and government funding on Twitter. He asked the Pakistan government to reciprocate by developing a similar corridor on their side of the border.
Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry and Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi have tweeted in support of the decision. Chaudhry called in a step in the right direction for Pak-India relations and Qureshi welcomed the Sikh community.
Pakistan has already decided to begin building the Kartarpur corridor later this month, with Prime Minister Khan will open the project.
According to officials, while a date for beginning the construction has not set, the government wants to coincide the announcement with the arrival of Sikh pilgrims, who are currently in the country to observe the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Devji, the founder of the Sikh faith.
Over 3,800 Indian pilgrims issued visas to attend Guru Nanak’s 550th birthday
About 2.5 kilometres of the corridor would be built inside Pakistan.
It was former Indian cricketer Navjaot Singh Sidhu, who made the first announcement that Pakistan was willing to open the Kartarpur corridor. He was passed on this information to none other than Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa during the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Imran Khan.
"It is a step towards the right direction and we hope such steps will encourage voice of reasons and tranquillity on both sides of the border," he said via Twitter.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said Pakistan had already informed India of its decision to open the Kartarpur corridor for Baba Guru Nanak’s 550th birth anniversary. "PM Imran Khan will break ground on Nov 28; we welcome the Sikh community to Pakistan for this auspicious occasion," added Qureshi.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet decided today to develop the corridor that will enable Sikh pilgrims to visit the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, located in Kartarpur, Narowal district without a visa, the Times of India reported.
The corridor will connect Dera Baba Nanak in Indian Punjab's Gurdaspur to Kartarpur in Pakistan's Narowal district where the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib — the shrine of revered saint Baba Guru Nanak — is situated, according to the publication.
Earlier today, Foreign Office Spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal had said the government will soon announce "good news about the opening of Kartarpur crossing".
In August, Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa had told Indian politician Navjot Singh Sidhu that Pakistan would open the Kartarpur crossing "when [the Sikh community] celebrates the 550th birth anniversary of Baba Nanak", when the latter had visited Islamabad for Prime Minister Imran Khan's oath-taking ceremony. The 550th birth anniversary of the revered Sikh figure is next year.
In September, Chaudhry, in an interview to Hindustan Times, reiterated the offer saying that "[the government] wants to formalise the informal proposal the Pakistan army chief made to Sidhu".
"This is an issue of the ordinary people, Sikhs and other Indian pilgrims, and an issue of faith," the information minister had said in a phone interview. "They shouldn’t suffer and we want to formalise the informal proposal the Pakistan army chief made to Sidhu."
On the Pakistani side, various proposals have been discussed and announcements made since the Musharraf era, but lack of interest by the Indian side has kept the proposals confined to cold storage.
Thousands of Sikh devotees from India visit Pakistan every year to celebrate the birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak. This year — for the 549th birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak — the Pakistan embassy in New Delhi issued over 3,500 visas to Sikh pilgrims who wished to attend the celebrations that will last for more than a week.
