India, Pakistan to sign pilgrim corridor pact
DEAL FACILITATES VISA-FREE ACCESS TO SIKHS FROM INDIA TO PAKISTANI TOWN
India and Pakistan are set to sign an agreement on Indian pilgrims visiting a Sikh shrine in Pakistan, rare cooperation between the nuclear-armed neighbours at a time of tension that has brought exchanges of fire on their disputed border.
The pact will introduce visafree access from India to the Pakistani town of Kartarpur, home to a temple that marks the site where the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak, died.
India’s foreign ministry said in a statement an understanding had been reached on most issues and India was prepared to sign the agreement today or tomorrow.
Pakistani officials were not immediately available for comment but Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper cited a foreign ministry spokesman as saying agreement had been reached and the two sides would sign the pact soon.
The Sikh minority in India has long sought easier access to the temple in Kartarpur, which is just over the border in Muslimmajority Pakistan.
The shrine is about 4.2km from the border. The crossing and corridor, including a road, bridge over the Ravi River and
immigration office, will replace a drawn-out visa process and circuitous journey through Pakistan.
But there is still disagreement over a $20 fee that Pakistan wants to charge each visitor. India “has consistently urged Pakistan that in deference to the wishes of the pilgrims, it should not levy such a fee”, India’s foreign ministry said.
India and Pakistan are set to sign an agreement on Indian pilgrims visiting a Sikh shrine in Pakistan, rare cooperation between the neighbours at a time of tension that has brought exchanges of fire on their disputed border.
Despite the tensions, the two countries have been holding talks on opening the corridor for pilgrimage to the Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara, which is located in Pakistani Punjab’s Narowal area.
The corridor is set to open in November to mark the 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of Sikhism, who spent his final days there. The two sides continued with the corridor project even after Pakistan scaled down diplomatic ties, following the abolition of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.
An understanding was reached between India and Pakistan last year to build the corridor to allow Sikh pilgrims visa-free travel to the holy shrine.
Proposal cleared
In November 2018, the cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi cleared a proposal for the corridor after which the ground-breaking ceremony on the Indian side was done by Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu, while on the Pakistan side it was done by Prime Minister Imran Khan.
India and Pakistan held the first round of talks on the corridor on the Indian side of the Attari-Wagah border on March 14, despite escalated tensions after the Pulwama terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir exactly a month earlier.
During the second round of talks on July 14, held at Wagah on the Pakistani side, Pakistan agreed to allow 5,000 pilgrims to visit Kartarpur Sahib Gurudwara per day. Pakistan also agreed in principle to allow visa-free, year-long travel to the Kartarpur gurdwara for Indian passport holders and Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) card holders. The pilgrims would be allowed to travel as individuals or in groups and also on foot.
The second round of talks were earlier set to be held on April 2, but were postponed after India voiced concerns over the presence of separatist Khalistani members in the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC).
India has built a four-lane highway upto the Pakistan border and a state-of-the-art passenger terminal to cater to the movement of thousands of Sikh pilgrims, both of which will be ready by October 31, a week before the celebrations begin. The highway from the Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur to the border is 4.2 km.