Two days ahead of the inauguration of the Kartarpur corridor, India on Thursday said conflicting reports are coming from Pakistan on whether Indian pilgrims will require passport to visit the Darbar Sahib shrine using the new facility.
Earlier on November 1, Pakistan Prime Miniser Imran Khan had announced the completion of Kartarpur Corridor on Twitter and had announced waiving conditions of carrying a passport for identification and prior registration for the visitors. He had also exempted the Indian pilgrims from paying a $20 entry fee on the day of the inauguration.
Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu too said a new world of peace and sustainable development could be founded if teachings of the Sikh Guru were integrated in daily lives. "Peace and harmony is the only way forward to ensure a prosperous future. The Kartarpur model may be replicated in future too for lasting resolution of conflicts," the former PM said
Days after Navjot Singh Sidhu accepted Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's invitation for the inauguration of the Kartarpur corridor, hoardings hailing both Sidhu and Imran Khan were seen in Amritsar. The hoardings, which were later removed, referred Khan and Sidhu as real heroes of the Kartarpur corridor.
Some 2,200 Sikh pilgrims arrived here via Wagah border and they were received by senior officials of the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB), a spokesperson of ETPB told PTI.
Just days ahead of the opening of the Kartarpur Corridor, Indian intelligence agencies have apprised security forces about a spurt in terror camps near Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Narowal district of Pakistan, sources said here on Monday.
The Sikh pilgrims visited Gurdwara Janamasthan, Nankana Sahib, Gurdwara Sacha Sodda Farooqabad and other shrines. The pilgrimage will conclude at Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, where a gold palanquin 'Palki Sahib' will be installed.
The pictures were shared by Khan on his Twitter account ahead of the planned inauguration of the Kartarpur corridor on November 9.
The Kartarpur corridor will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Gurdaspur on November 9. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan will declare the corridor open from the other end.
"Those who Pakistan wants to call have to take political clearance," MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said at a briefing, to a question on Sidhu accepting an invite by Imran Khan to attend the November 9 inauguration ceremony.
Sidhu said the Sikh community all over the world looks forward to visiting the holy shrine associated with their spiritual leader Baba Guru Nanak.
The agreement will allow 5,000 Indian pilgrims daily to visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib where Guru Nanak spent last 18 years of his life.
The 4.2 km-long corridor from the Indian side in Dera Baba Nanak area in Punjab's Gurdaspur district will be completed by October 31, a week before the celebrations to mark the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.
Faisal remarks comes after India's Ministry of External Affairs on Monday declared that it would be ready to sign the agreement on Kartarpur Sahib Corridor on Wednesday. However, it has now been scheduled for Thursday.
When opened to pilgrims, Kartarpur Corridor will not just be a physical stretch of road connecting Dera Baba Nanak in India and Kartarpur Sahib Gurudwara in Pakistan. It will be a culmination of wishes of lakhs of Sikhs in India and Pakistan. Kartarpur Corridor will be a spiritual path for everyone seeking peace.
The announcement comes a day after India declared that it would sign an agreement on the Corridor with Pakistan on Wednesday.
Earlier, both the countries had announced, the Agreement on Kartarpur Corridor will be signed on 23rd October.
In a press release, the Miinistry of External Affairs said that keeping in mind the interest of Sikh devotees, it has agreed to sign the Kartarpur Corridor with Pakistan despite the neighbour's 'insistence' on $20 fee per pilgrim.
Earlier, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had also lashed out at Pakistan for demanding the USD 20 service charge, saying it was tantamount to "putting a ticket" on visiting the historic gurdwara.
The agreement on the Kartarpur Corridor is to be inked between Pakistan and India on Wednesday or Thursday, even as PM Imran Khan announced that Pakistan will inaugurate the corridor on November 9.
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