India shares Kartarpur draft, seeks flexibility

NEW DELHI: India has shared a draft agreement on the Kartarpur Corridor with Pakistan and is hoping the Pakistani side will display flexibility and concur with it, people familiar with the developments said on Saturday.

The draft agreement was shared with the Pakistani side after a meeting between the two countries at Attari on September 4 ended with sharp differences on the proposed pact, the people said.

That meeting had failed to finalise the agreement after the Pakistani side adopted what Indian officials had described as

an “inflexible attitude” on certain conditions, including a service fee of $20 for each pilgrim using the corridor that will link Dera Baba Nanak in India to

Darbar Sahib gurdwara in Pakistan’s Kartarpur.

“It is hoped Pakistan will show the desired flexibility and concur with the draft agreement so as to ensure that the corridor is opened in November on the occasion of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak,” said an official who declined to be identified.

At the September 4 meeting, Pakistan had also turned down the Indian side’s request to allow 10,000 pilgrims to use the corridor on special occasions and to permit consular and protocol officials to accompany the pilgrims every day.

The Indian side has said it is committed to opening the corridor in time for Guru Nanak’s birth anniversary celebrations and asked the Pakistani side to respect the sentiments of the Sikh community.