Pakistan on Tuesday proposed July 14 for the second meeting with India to discuss the draft agreement for finalising the modalities of the Kartarpur corridor and related technical issues, the Foreign Office said on Tuesday.
The corridor will connect Darbar Sahib in Pakistan’sKartarpur with Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district and facilitatevisa-free movement of Indian Sikh pilgrims, who will have to just obtain apermit to visit Kartarpur Sahib, which was established in 1522 by Sikh faithfounder Guru Nanak Dev.
“Pakistan, today, conveyed to India that the secondmeeting to discuss the draft agreement for finalising the modalities ofKartarpur Corridor and related technical issues will be held on 14th July 2019at Wagah,” the FO said.
“The Indian side has been requested to convey thecomposition of its delegation,” it said in a brief statement.
It said Pakistan was committed to expedite progress on thematter to ensure that the corridor is operationalised in time for the 550thbirth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev in November 2019.
The first meeting of officials of Pakistan and India tofinalise the modalities of the landmark corridor was held in Attari in theshadow of escalating bilateral tensions in March following the Pulwama terrorattack by a suicide bomber of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed on February 14.
The meeting was “constructive” and the discussionswere held in a “cordial environment”, the Foreign Office had said.
India had conveyed its concerns over the presence of severalKhalistani separatists in a committee appointed by Pakistan on the Kartarpurcorridor.
The FO had said that the 10-member purely-religiouscommittee referred to by India was indeed PSGPC and was not specific toKartarpur but responsible for upkeep of all Sikh Gurdwaras in Pakistan.
Last November, India and Pakistan agreed to set up theborder crossing linking Gurudwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, the final restingplace of Sikh faith’s founder Guru Nanak Dev, to Dera Baba Nanak shrine inIndia’s Gurdaspur district.
Kartarpur Sahib is located in Pakistan’s Narowal districtacross the river Ravi, about four km from the Dera Baba Nanak shrine. VicePresident M Venkaiah Naidu and Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had onNovember 26 last year laid the foundation stone of the Kartarpur Corridor inGurdaspur district. Two days later, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan laidthe foundation stone of the corridor in Narowal, 125 km from Lahore.
Early this month, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’sgovernment earmarked Rs 100 crore in the federal budget 2019-20 for thedevelopment of the much-awaited corridor.
The funds will be used for land acquisition and development of infrastructure of Kartarpur under Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for the next financial year 2019-20. PTI