India seeks 5000 Sikh pilgrims visa free entry in a day for Kartarpur Corridor: sources

ISLAMABAD: India has given its list of proposals for the Kartarpur Corridor to Pakistan ahead of third round of high level talks between the two countries on Wednesday (tomorrow), ARY News reported on Tuesday.

According to diplomatic sources Pakistan has accepted an Indian proposal for arrival of up to 5000 Sikh pilgrims and their visa free entry in a day.

India has also sought permission for the visit of 10,000 Indian pilgrims of other beliefs to Kartarpur on special occasions.

Pakistan has also accepted another Indian demand of arrival of the pilgrims in groups or individually walking to Kartarpur.

Indian side has also sought permission from Pakistani authorities for Sikh pilgrims to prepare and distribute charity food (Langar/Prasad) during their stay in Kartarpur, sources said.

Officials from both sides will meet at 10am on the Indian side of the Wagah-Attari border tomorrow where they are expected to finalise a draft agreement regarding opening of the corridor that will allow visa-free access to Sikh pilgrims from India to Gurdwara Kartarpur Darbar Sahib.

South Asia and SAARC Director-General Dr Muhammad Faisal, who is also spokesperson of Foreign Office, will lead the Pakistani delegation.

It is pertinent to mention here that the fourth phase of technical talks over Kartarpur Corridor project between Pakistan and India had concluded at Dera Baba Guru Nanak Zero Point on Aug 30.

The two sides agreed over most technical aspects of the project, sources said.

Pakistan has almost completed work of the corridor project on its side, sources said.

However, the work on the Indian side of the corridor yet to reach 50 percent of its completion, sources further said.

Despite tensions with India, Pakistan had earlier said it has decided to open the Kartarpur Corridor in November 2019 as the ongoing construction work has entered into its completion phase.

The corridor would be opened on the eve of 550th birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak on November 11 in a ceremony, officials earlier said.

PM Imran Khan had laid the foundation stone of Kartarpur Corridor to link Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan with India’s Gurdaspur district on Nov 28, 2018.

Former Indian cricketer and member of Punjab cabinet Navjot Singh Sidhu and other Indian ministers were also present on the occasion.

The Kartarpur Corridor will provide visa-free access to Indian Sikh pilgrims to the Gurdwara in Kartarpur Sahib – a small town in Narowal district, four kilometers from the Pakistan-India border, where Sikhism founder Baba Guru Nanak spent the last 18 years of his life.