We invite Manmohan to attend Kartarpur inauguration: Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Monday said that Pakistan would invite former India Prime Minister and senior Congress leader Manmohan Singh for the inauguration of the Kartarpur Corridor on November 9.
Qureshi said the Imran Khanled government has decided to hold the inauguration ceremony in a big way. “We are making big preparations for it,” he said.
“We have decided to invite former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He is held in high esteem and represents the Sikh community.
“On behalf of the Pakistan government, I extend our invite to him. We shall invite him in writing too,” Qureshi said.
“We want all the Sikh pilgrims to visit Kartarpur and participate in the 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev,” he said.
The Kartarpur gurdwara, located on the bank of river Ravi in Pakistan, is about four km from the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India’s Gurdaspur district, and about 120 km northeast of Lahore.
Guru Nanak had lived there for 18 years until his demise in 1539.
The Kartarpur corridor will connect Darbar Sahib in Pakistan’s Kartarpur with Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district of Punjab and facilitate visa-free movement of Indian pilgrims, who will have to obtain a permit to make the pilgrimage.
The corridor will be opened in November ahead of Guru Nank Dev’s 550th birth anniversary.
Kartarpur Sahib was establ i shed i n 1522 by Sikh f aith founder Guru Nanak Dev.
The Indian security establishment sees the video invite as a public relations exercise by the Pakistan government that is desperately trying to counter adverse reports about its treatment of its minorities.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the integrated check post (ICP) in Kartarpur Sahib on the Indian side of the border on November 9 and flag off the first group of pilgrims.
Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh is also expected t o attend t he programmes in Kartarpur.