India andPakistan have come together to build a corridor stretching a few kilometres from Dera Baba Nanak, located in the Indian state of Punjab to the banks of River Ravi in Pakistan to visit gurdwaraDarbar Sahib , an iconic Sikh temple.- The corridor was first proposed by former Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1999, and had been in the queue ever since but Pakistan didn’t accept the proposal.
- India will inaugurate the corridor on 26 November while Pakistan’s PM Imran Khan will lay the foundation later this week and has also invited the
Sikh community to Pakistan for the occasion.
After weeks of internal discussions over the
Reportedly, Punjab Minister, Navjot Singh Sidhu, had raised the issue to build the corridor during his recent visit to Pakistan that lead to the initiative. In response to this, Pakistan has also decided to open their side of the corridor to facilitate Sikh pilgrims.
The Kartarpur corridor stretching over two kilometres on either side will provide visa-free access from India to Darbar Sahib.
Rajnath Singh, India’s Union Home Minister tweeted the decision to build the corridor.
The Kartarpur corridor will provide smooth and easy passage to pilgrims to visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib throughout the year. Government of Pakistan will be urged to reciprocate and develop a corridor with suitable facilities in their territory.
— राजनाथ सिंह (@rajnathsingh) November 22, 2018 ]]>Pakistan Information and Broadcasting Minister, Fawad Chaudhry, also posted on Twitter saying that the move will help bring peace on either side of the border.
Indian Cabinet endorsement of Pakistan’s proposition on #KartarPurBorderOpening is victory of peace lobby in both countries, its a step towards right direction and we hope such steps ll encourage voice of reasons and tranquility on both sides of the border.
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) November 22, 2018 ]]>The corridor on the Indian side will be funded by the central government under ‘integrated development project’ will all modern amenities, Hindustan Times reported.
Arun Jaitley, Finance Minister, also posted a tweet calling Dera Baba Nanak Sahib & Kartarpur Sahib twin pilgrimage places.
Dera Baba Nanak Sahib & Kartarpur Sahib are twin pilgrimage places associated with Sri Guru Nanak Devji. At Kartarpur Sahib he lived preaching for 18 years and the Gurudwara Darbar Sahib is built in his commemoration.
— Arun Jaitley (@arunjaitley) November 26, 2018 ]]>The corridor was first proposed by the then India’s former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1999, and had been in the queue ever since while Pakistan wasn’t in agreement earlier.