GURDASPUR: Indian Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu and Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday laid the foundation stone of the Kartarpur Sahib corridor, which will facilitate easy passage to Sikh pilgrims to the historic Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan.

The decision to build the passage — from Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district to the International Border — was taken by the Union Cabinet on Nov 22.

Kartarpur is located in Shakargarh in Narowal district of Pakistan’s Punjab province. Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of Sikhism, had spent more than 18 years of his life there. The Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara is located on the banks of the Ravi River, about three-four kilometres from the border in Pakistan.

Earlier, speaking on the occasion, Union minister Nitin Gadkari said the corridor construction work would be completed within four months.

PM Imran will perform groundbreaking of the corridor on Pakistani side tomorrow

Union ministers Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Hardeep Singh Puri and Vijay Sampla were also present at the event.

The Indian Punjab government had launched year-long celebrations to commemorate the 550th ‘Parkash Purb’ (birth anniversary) of Guru Nanak Dev on Nov 23.

Prime Minister Imran Khan will inaugurate the groundbreaking ceremony of the Kartarpur corridor on the Pakistani side on Nov 28.

The Pakistan government had in early September proposed to open the Kartarpur border crossing with India for Sikh pilgrims to visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib without visa. Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry had in an interview to Hindustan Times reiterated the offer, saying that “[the government] wants to formalise the informal proposal the Pakistan army chief made to [Navjot Singh] Sidhu”.

Earlier, Chief of the Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa had hinted at opening the Kartarpur border on the occasion of Baba Guru Nanak’s birth anniversary next year for Sikh pilgrims when he met cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu during the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Khan.

On the Pakistani side, various proposals have been discussed and announcements made since the Gen Musharraf era, but lack of interest by the Indian side has kept the proposals confined to cold storage.

Thousands of Sikh devotees from India visit Pakistan every year to celebrate the birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak. This year — for the 549th birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak — the Pakistan embassy in New Delhi issued over 3,500 visas to Sikh pilgrims who wished to attend the celebrations.

By arrangement with Times of India

Published in Dawn, November 27th, 2018