LAHORE 30th June: India has proposed tentative dates for talks with Pakistani officials to finalise matters pertaining to the Kartarpur Corridor ahead of Baba Guru Nanak’s anniversary in November.
New Delhi has suggested July 11-14 for talks on the Pakistani side of Wagah border, wherein officials shall elaborate on a draft agreement to facilitate the movement of Sikh pilgrims and resolve outstanding technical issues related to the corridor’s alignment and infrastructure.
The Kartarpur crossing will link Dera Baba Nanak in Indian Punjab with Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan.
The development comes after Indian authorities postponed the second meeting over the inclusion of pro-Khalistan activists in a Pakistani committee to facilitate Sikh pilgrims.
Earlier, the two countries held technical level talks at the site on April 16. A senior official said there was no delay on Pakistan’s part.
However, the official had said Pakistan was confident that India would resume talks after the elections.
The corridor, which will soon be operational, will provide easy visa-free access to Sikhs from India to their most holiest Shrine located inside Pakistan. This will also be the first visa-free corridor between the two nuclear-armed neighbors since their independence in 1947.
The proposal has been in the works for over two decades. However, it only began to take shape when in August, the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan announced that Pakistan was planning to open the corridor.