After being closed for more than a year, the Kartarpur Corridor between India and Pakistan will be reopened from Wednesday. The news agency AFP reported this information.
On the eve of Guru Nanak’s birth anniversary, the Government of India has announced to open the corridor for Sikh benefactors. Using this corridor, Indian Sikhs have the opportunity to visit Gurudwara shrines in Pakistan.
The Kartarpur Corridor is a visa-free border crossing between India and Pakistan. The corridor was first launched in 2019 on the occasion of Guru Nanak’s 550th birthday. But the corridor has been closed since March last year due to the Corona epidemic.
On Tuesday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced that the Kartarpur Corridor would be reopened on Wednesday to mark the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak.
In a post on Twitter, Amit Shah wrote, “A big decision has been taken keeping in mind the huge number of Sikh benefactors. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has decided to reopen the Kartarpur Sahib corridor from tomorrow (Wednesday).
Amit Shah hopes that this decision of the Indian government will increase the joy and excitement of the people of the country.
India has blamed Pakistan for closing the 4.5-kilometer corridor for more than a year.
NDTV Online reports that Pakistan has imposed travel restrictions on India due to the Corona situation. The Kartarpur Corridor was closed in March 2020 after the ban was imposed. Pakistan has expressed interest in reopening the corridor from June 26 this year if the Corona situation improves. Islamabad then said it would open the corridor on October 3. However, there was no response from India. Finally, India announced the opening of the corridor yesterday.
However, a Pakistani official said the corridor had never been closed by them. Instead, they were waiting for clearance from the Indian authorities so that Sikh benefactors could enter Pakistan using this corridor.
After partition, most of the Sikhs migrated from Pakistan to India. However, about 20,000 Sikhs remained in Pakistan.
Due to the strained relations between the two countries, Indian Sikhs have not been able to visit Gurudwaras inside Pakistan for decades. This opportunity was created when Kartarpur Corridor was launched in 2019.
