Amidst heightened tensions rising from the recent Pulwama suicide bombing attack, India and Pakistan have mutually agreed to talk, but only about the Kartarpur Corridor. Representatives of both countries will meet at in India at Attari on March 14 to proceed on this joint project that seeks to serve the longstanding demand of those who wish to visit Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan.
India, however, has made it amply clear that this is not a resumption of bilateral dialogue with Pakistan.
This will be the first meeting of its kind on the Kartarpur Corridor, ever since its foundation stone was laid on both sides of the border in November last year.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), in a statement issued on March 6, said that this is “in keeping with the government’s decision to operationalise the Kartapur Corridor on the occasion of the 550th Birth Anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev ji and to meet the long-pending public demand to have easy and smooth access to the holy Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib.”
India has also proposed that a technical level discussion of the alignment of the corridor be held on the same day on the sidelines of this meeting.
In a press conference in Islamabad on March 7, Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign affairs spokesman, Dr. Mohammad Faisal said: “Kartarpur is an initiative of Pakistan, as a goodwill gesture, especially for the Sikh community. Two days ago, we suggested that we can visit New Delhi to hold talks for which Pakistan has already shared a draft agreement with India. However, the Indian government suggested that the talks should be held at Attari. We plan to send a delegation to India on March 14.”
When asked if issues other than Kartarpur will be discussed during this meeting or not, Raveesh Kumar, MEA spokesman, categorically said this meeting is “not in any way resumption of bilateral dialogue. It is related to the emotions and sentiments of Indian citizens of Sikh faith… Pakistan had cast some doubts on the meeting; we had never said the meeting will not be held. So we have to understand the objective of the meeting.”
So far, it is expected that an Indian delegation will visit Pakistan on March 28 to discuss this matter further.
On March 9, India’s home ministry approved the development of a passenger terminal building in the corridor at a cost of Rs 190 crore (approximately AUD 3.8 million). According to Indian media reports, this building, which can accommodate 5,000 per day, will also house a hospital and accommodation for pilgrims amongst other facilities.
According to Indian media reports, welcoming this move by the Government of India, Punjab chief minister Capt. Amarinder Singh, on March 10, also offered to extend all help for this project. However, he demanded that in keeping with the ardas (Sikh prayer), “khulle darshan” i.e., an easy route to pay obeisance by pilgrims be ensured by the government by allowing a passport-and-visa-free access to Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib.
According to media reports, the Punjab CM said: “the condition of passport and visa would prevent thousands of devotees without passports, particularly those living in the rural belt of Punjab, from fulfilling their aspiration to pay obeisance at the historic gurdwara associated with the life of the first Sikh Guru… The Central government could easily provide access to the gurdwara to these non-passport holder devotees by waiving the condition of passport and visa, and using other documents instead to verify the identity of the pilgrims.”
Located in Narowal district of Pakistan’s Punjab province, Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib, is nearly 4 km from the international border near the town of Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district of Indian Punjab. The significance of this gurdwara amongst the Sikh community is very high as the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak Dev spent 18 years of his life here and also breathed his last here.
Since late 2018, the governments of India and Pakistan are trying to facilitate the travel of pilgrims from India to offer prayers at the gurdwara. The demand for this was being made by the Sikh community for the past over 70 years, in every ardas they offer several times a day across the world. The corridor is expected to be operationalised by the time the 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak are organised.
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