Technical talks on Kartarpur corridor today

China welcomes Zero Line meeting as another step towards easing tensions


Asif Mehmood March 18, 2019
China welcomes Zero Line meeting as another step towards easing tensions. PHOTO: FOREIGN OFFICE

LAHORE: Technical experts of Pakistan and India will meet at Kartarpur Zero Line today (19th March) to discuss the plan for the corridor project. Besides sharing information with each other, experts from the two countries will hold discussions pertaining to technical aspects of the project.

The decision to hold meeting of technical experts of Pakistan and India was taken by officials of the two countries in their March 14 meeting held at the Attari border. According to Foreign Office Spokesperson Dr Muhammad Faisal, experts from various fields of construction will participate in the March 19 meeting.

Fifty percent of the four-kilometer stretch of the corridor being built by Pakistan has been completed while the stretch between Zero Line to Baba Nanak’s shrine is being built by India. India is building a passenger terminal at Zero Line at an estimated cost of Rs1.9 billion.

Officials from the two countries will hold their second meeting to discuss the plan for Kartarpur corridor on April 2 at the Wagah border. It is hoped that the first phase of the corridor will be completed before the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism.

China welcomes move

China on Monday welcomed the meeting between India and Pakistan to discuss and finalise modalities for the Kartarpur Corridor.

Beijing hopes relevant progress will help to further ease tensions between India and Pakistan and improve the regional situation, foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said at a press briefing.

"India and Pakistan are neighbors that will always live with each other," Geng said, adding that harmonious relationship between the two countries serves the fundamental interests of both sides and meets the common expectation of the international community.

He expressed hope that both sides could continue to demonstrate goodwill, meet each other halfway, properly settle differences through dialogues, improve bilateral relations and jointly safeguard regional peace and stability.  (With additional input from Agencies)

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