Pakistan-India talks over Kartarpur Corridor on Wednesday

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and India will hold high-level talks on Kartarpur Corridor on Wednesday, ARY News reported, citing sources.

Officials from both sides will meet at 10am on the Indian side of the Wagah-Attari border 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 a revered site – Gurdwara  Kartarpur Darbar Sahib.

Talks will follow on the heels of India responding to Pakistan’s offer in this regard.

South Asia and SAARC Director-General Dr Muhammad Faisal, who is also a spokesperson for 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.

According to sources the consultations between technical experts of the two countries started at 10:00 am. 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.

The next round of the delegation-level talks on the project is likely to be held in the first week of September, as suggested by the Indian side, sources 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.