Pakistan, India sign historic Kartarpur Corridor agreement

KARTARPUR ZERO POINT: The officials of Pakistan and India in a historic event on Thursday signed an agreement for opening Kartarpur Corridor, ARY News reported.

In a signing ceremony at Kartarpur Zero Point, Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Director General South Asia and SAARC Dr. Muhammad Faisal and India’s Joint Secretary External Affairs SCL Das signed the agreement on behalf of their respective countries.

Dr. Faisal talking to media after the signing ceremony said that Kartarpur Corridor agreement has been signed according to the promise of Prime Minister Imran Khan with the Sikh community.

“We are planting a tree of love which will also provide shade to our neighbors,” Dr. Faisal said.

Prime Minister Imran Khan will inaugurate Kartarpur Corridor on Nov. 09, he added.

It was earlier announced that the focal persons designated by both countries will ink the accord in a ceremony, scheduled on 12:00 pm today at Kartarpur Zero Point.

Dr. Muhammad Faisal, the spokesperson of Foreign Office, will represent Pakistan while New Dehli’s joint secretary will attend the ceremony from Indian side.

In the final draft agreement, Islamabad had kept a service fee of $20 for Sikh pilgrims visiting the Corridor from the Indian side, unchanged. As many as 5,000 Sikh pilgrims can visit Kartarpur daily and Pakistan will consider the possibility of allowing more pilgrims on special occasions.

Indian pilgrims would have to show passport, Adhar Card or PIN Card as their identity. Pakistan’s immigration officials will issue a card to every Indian pilgrim with bar code.

The arrival time for the pilgrims from India will be 8:00 in the morning to 12:00 noon. The pilgrims would have to leave back till the sunset, as per details of the proposed agreement.

Last week, Prime Minister Imran Khan announced that Pakistan is all set to open its doors for the Sikh community from across the globe. In a Facebook post, he said construction work on the Kartarpur project has entered the final stage and will be open to the public on November 9.The prime minister said the world’s largest Gurdwara will be visited by Sikhs from across India and other parts of the world.