Despite India’s IOK move, Pakistan committed to Kartarpur project

Delegation of Indian Punjab ministers to visit country this month

LAHORE: Despite downgrading diplomatic ties and suspending trade with India in response to the scrapping of the semi-autonomous status of Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan is carrying on with the construction of the Kartarpur Corridor and a delegation comprising ministers of the Indian state of Punjab is expected to visit the country for talks on the project.

The Indian delegation will be headed by Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, a minister of Indian Punjab and the chief of the committee formed by the Indian government for the corridor. It will also comprise three other ministers. This delegation will meet Prime Minister Imran Khan, Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar and the Punjab governor.

According to sources, the chief minister of Indian Punjab, Amarinder Singh, has written a letter to PM Imran requesting that work on the corridor should continue despite the escalation of tensions between Pakistan and India in the wake of the recent developments concerning Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

He also sought a meeting of the ministers of Indian Punjab with Pakistani officials.

The delegation is likely to arrive in Pakistan via Wagah border between August 22 and August 28.

When contacted by The Express Tribune, Randhawa confirmed that the delegation would visit Pakistan. He added that the ministers would reach Pakistan between August 22 and August 28 but the final date would be announced after PM Imran and CM Buzdar‘s confirmation.

“We want the Pakistani prime minister to welcome the first batch of Indian pilgrims reaching Pakistan through the Kartarpur Corridor on November 8,” he said.

Randhawa lauded Pakistan’s initiative to start the construction of the corridor, describing it as a “major step”.

“Sikhs around the world are sure that Pakistan will complete the construction of the corridor,” he added.

Pakistan has completed over 90% work on the corridor including the construction of the main road and bridge from Zero Line to Gurdwara Sahib ahead of its launch in November.

The Kartarpur crossing will link Dera Baba Nanak in Indian Punjab with Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan.

The corridor, once operational, will provide visa-free access to Sikhs in India to their holiest Shrine located inside Pakistan. This will also be the first visa-free corridor between the two nuclear-armed neighbours since their independence in 1947.

The proposal has been in the works for over two decades. However, it only began to take shape when the government of PM Imran announced in August last year that Pakistan was planning to open the corridor.

In November 2018, PM Imran performed the groundbreaking ceremony to build a four-kilometre long corridor at Kartarpur. The ceremony was attended by the premier’s friend and former Indian cricketer Navjaot Singh Sidhu.

Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib, considered the holiest place in Sikh religion because it is the last resting place of Baba Guru Nanak, is located in Narowal, only four kilometres away from the Indian border.

The shrine is visible from the Indian side of the border and every day a larger number of Sikh devotees gather to perform Darshan or sacred viewings of the site.

The corridor is expected to become functional on the 550th birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak in November this year.