Confusion over Pak U-turn on Kartarpur ‘service fee’
NEW DELHI: In a series of flip-flops by Pakistan a day before the opening of the Kartarpur Corridor, Islamabad said on Friday that it will charge $20 as “service fee” from visitors to Gurudwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, Pakistan, on Saturday.
Friday’s announcement reverses Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s second “concession” — to not charge service fee from the visitors arriving on November 9 — for the corrdior’s opening, and on November 12 — Guru Nanak’s 550th birth anniversary.
Indian foreign ministry had not reacted to the latest developments as of Friday evening. The first group of Indian visitors including former PM Manmohan Singh will leave on Saturday for the corridor’s inauguration.
The Indian government on Thursday had slammed Pakistan over its flip-flop on the passport issue and said the pilgrims needed to carry passport according to the official agreement signed with Pakistan in Octber. Pakistan Army spokesman Major Gen Asif Ghafoor had earlier said that passports were required for the Sikh pilgrims to cross the border and reach Gurdwara in Pakistan’s Kartarpur. Ghafoor’ announcement contradicted Imran Khan’s Twitter “concession”.
The prime ministers of both countries are set to inaugurate separate sections of the corridor, which links Dera Baba Nanak in India’s Gurdaspur to Durbar Sahib gurdwara in Pakistan’s Kartarpur, on Saturday against the backdrop of heightened bilateral tensions and the snapping of almost of all formal contacts.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Saturday inaugurate the Integrated Check Post (ICP) of the Kartarpur corridor at Dera Baba Nanak, Gurdaspur in Punjab.
India had signed an agreement with the neighbouring nation on October 24 on the modalities for operationalisation of the corridor at ‘Zero Point’ of the international boundary at Dera Baba Nanak.
The agreement allows 5,000 Indian pilgrims daily to visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib where Guru Nanak spent the final 18 years of his life.
Indians and persons of Indian origin can use the corridor and the travel will be visa-free. Even though no registration charge is being levied by the Indian government, each visitor would be required to pay $20 as fee, which would be charged by the Pakistan government.
Sikh pilgrims have started coming at the Nankana Sahib from India and other countries in connection with the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak.
Pakistan foreign secretary Sohail Mahmood on Wednesday said that pilgrims from India would be coming through Wagah border as well.
“Similarly, thousands of pilgrims from across the world, especially from countries with large Sikh community, are coming to Pakistan,” he said in a statement.
However, there have been conflicting messages from Pakistan over the key issue of whether Indian pilgrims will require passport, and a caution from New Delhi that Islamabad needs to desist from anti-India propaganda marked the run-up to Saturday’s inauguration.
Pakistan army spokesman asserted that passport would be required to use the corridor while the Pakistan foreign office contradicted it, saying Khan has waived the condition of passport for one year for Indian Sikhs visiting the Gurdwara.
During his weekly media briefing in Islamabad, Pakistan foreign office spokesman Mohammad Faisal said the condition of passports for Indian Sikhs was waived for one year in the wake of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak. The run-up to the formal opening of the corridor has been marked by unilateral announcements by Pakistan’s leadership, including Prime Minister Imran Khan, that pilgrims won’t be required to carry passports or to register 10 days before their planned visit – both mandatory conditions under the agreement signed on October 24.
India and Pakistan had agreed in November last year to open the Kartarpur Corridor in time for the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism. Guru Nanak spent the final years of his life at the site in Pakistani Punjab where the Durbar Sahib gurdwara was built.