Pakistan opens immigration centre & checkpost at Kartarpur border

The immigration office will check documents of Sikh pilgrims and identify them through biometric technology. Pilgrims having visas will be allowed to enter the city. MUFAKHAR ADEEL, Pak FIA deputy director (Punjab)

Pakistan has established an immigration centre at the Kartarpur border following the groundbreaking of the landmark corridor for Sikh pilgrims.

The corridor will connect Guru Nanak’s final resting place in Pakistan’s Kartarpur to the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Punjab’s Gurdaspur district in India, fulfilling a long-pending demand of the Sikh community.

Since the border crossing could be an easy target for “terrorists, human traffickers and drug dealers”, a strong mechanism was required to keep the situation under control on both sides of the border, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) deputy director (Punjab) Mufakhar Adeel said.

“The FIA has set up an immigration office at Kartarpur border in Narowal (some 120km from Lahore) in connection with the opening of Kartarpur corridor,” Adeel told Dawn news.

“The FIA officers will play the role of boarding officers and check the documents of Sikh pilgrims and identify them through biometric technology. Sikh pilgrims having visas will be allowed to enter the city while those with permits will be given access to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib only,” he said.

On November 28, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan laid the foundation stone of the Kartarpur corridor. On November 26, Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu and Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh laid the foundation stone for the Kartarpur corridor in Gurdaspur.

Khan said that his government and the army wanted a “civilised relationship” with India, declaring that Islamabad would move two steps forward if New Delhi took one step.

Khan cited examples of France and Germany which fought many wars but eventually came closer for the welfare of their people.