Pakistan regrets Indian decision to postpone Kartarpur meeting

islamabad — Pakistan on Friday regretted India’s decision to postpone the meeting on the Kartarpur Corridor scheduled to be held on April 2 at Wagah.

Foreign Office spokesman Dr Mohammed Faisal, in response to India’s ‘last-minute’ decision, said Pakistan had not been taken into confidence.

“Last-minute postponement without seeking views from Pakistan and especially after the productive technical meeting on March 19 is incomprehensible,” the spokesman said in his post on Twitter.

The spokesman said the meeting, which was meant to discuss and find consensus on outstanding issues, was jointly agreed by both sides on March 14 at Attari.

Dr Faisal’s response came after New Delhi said it had “sought clarifications from Pakistan on key proposals put forward by India at the last meeting to discuss the modalities of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor”.

An statement by Indian’s foreign affairs ministry maintained that

“the next meeting on the modalities can be scheduled at an appropriate time after receiving Pakistan’s response”.

The statement said: “India has shared concerns and sought clarifications on reports that controversial elements have been appointed by Pakistan to a committee to be associated with the Kartarpur Corridor.” However, it did not elaborate on what ‘controversial elements’ it was referring to.

Earlier this morning, Pakistan welcomed the Indian journalists interested in the coverage of Kartarpur meeting in Wagah and had offered facilitation in getting visas.

The announcement was in stark contrast to actions taken by New Delhi which had earlier blocked access to Pakistani journalists and did not allow them to cover the earlier Kartarpur meet in India.

Spokesperson Dr Mohammed Faisal tweeted that Indian media personnel can apply for visas at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi. —