Pakistan on Thursday said it is “keen” to hold a meeting with India soon to finalise an agreement for the opening of the Kartarpur corridor, days after the two countries held a meeting on the technical aspects of the proposal.
The Kartarpur corridor links Gurudwara Darbar Sahib inPakistan’s Narowal with Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district in Punjab.
Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Faisal said that work isproceeding rapidly on the Pakistani side on the Kartarpur corridor.
“In view of paucity of time, we are keen to hold the meetingto finalise the draft agreement at the earliest. The meeting is specifically todiscuss differences related to proposals of both countries for operationalisingthe corridor and to align positions to build convergence. We hope India willagree to hold a meeting at the earliest,” he said.
“Both sides agreed to share the technical design/parametersfor passage of flood water at the earliest,” he said.
The spokesman announced that the Evacuee Trust BoardPakistan was all set to launch a special coin and postal stamp to commemoratethe 550th birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak.
The technical-level talks took place on April 16.
Officials said in New Delhi that at the nearlyfour-hour-long meeting, which took place in makeshift tents at “Zero point” ofthe proposed corridor, experts and technicians from both the countriesdiscussed “timing for completion of bridge, alignment of roads and engineeringaspects of the proposed crossing points”.
In November 2018, India and Pakistan agreed to set up theborder crossing linking Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, the final restingplace of Sikh faith founder Guru Nanak, to Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspurdistrict.
Kartarpur is located in Pakistan’s Narowal district across the Ravi, about four km from the Dera Baba Nanak.