Pakistan and India agreed on Thursday resolved to expedite work on making Kartarpur Corridor functional. The Foreign Office spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal disclosed this while talking to reporters at Wagha border upon his return from talks at Attari, India. Dr Faisal, who was heading the Pakistani side during a bilateral dialogue, said though differences persisted on a few points between the two sides, the meeting went well and positive. Technical experts from Pakistan and India also had a detailed discussion on important matters pertaining to the issue, he added.
He further said: "The meeting was held in a positive and conducive environment." The experts also discussed issues relating to the corridor, its construction, road, and other technicalities.
Dr Faisal termed the meeting an achievement, noting that the two countries had issued a joint statement after a gap of several years. He recalled that the two countries had last agreed on a joint statement in 2015.
While reading out the joint statement, he said both the sides held detailed and constructive discussions on various aspects and provisions of the proposed agreement and agreed to work towards expeditiously operationalising the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor.
"According to the statement both the sides also held expert-level discussions on the alignment and other details of the proposed corridor," Dr Faisal maintained. "We have also agreed to hold the next meeting at Wagah on April 2, 2019, which will be preceded by a meeting of technical experts on March 19, 2019, at proposed zero points to finalize the alignment of corridor," he added.
It is also hoped that Indian Sikh pilgrims will have visa-free access to Gurdwara in Kartarpur Sahib, a small town in Narowal, 4 kilometres from the Pakistan-India border.
The corridor is planned to be opened for Sikh pilgrims this year in commemoration of the 550th birth anniversary year of Guru Nanak. The groundbreaking of the project on the Pakistani side was performed by Prime Minister Imran Khan at Kartarpur Sahib on Nov 28, 2018.
Dr Mohammad Faisal, while talking to media persons before leaving for India, expressed his confidence that dialogue on the corridor could be a step forward in the right direction in the current situation.
On January 21, Islamabad, shared its draft agreement with India and proposed that Pakistan delegation may visit India on March 14 followed by return visit of the Indian delegation to Pakistan.
Agencies add:
The Indian side was led by SCL Das, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Many Sikhs see Pakistan as the place where their religion began: its founder, Guru Nanak, was born in 1469 in a small village near the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore.
But to get there, travellers must first secure hard-to-get visas, travel to Lahore or some other major Pakistani city and then drive to the village, which is just 4 km (2-1/2 miles) distant from the Indian border.
This week's talks follow an agreement the neighbours struck last year to open a new route, the Kartarpur corridor, giving the pilgrims direct and visa-free access to the holy site that will be fenced off.
The talks in India come a day after China put on hold a request by Britain, France and the United States to add Masood Azhar, leader of JeM, to a UN terror blacklist.
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