Kartarpur Corridor to be inaugurated on November 11

ISLAMABAD: Despite tensions with India, Pakistan in a gesture of peace has decided to open the Kartarpur Corridor in November 2019 as ongoing construction work has entered into its final phase, sources said.

As per sources, the construction and renovation work of Kartarpur Corridor will be completed by August 31 this year and the corridor would be opened on the eve of 550 birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak on November 11 in a ceremony.

Sources further revealed that Prime Minister Imran Khan, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and other government officials would attend the inauguration ceremony of the Kartarpur corridor.

PM Imran Khan had laid the foundation stone of Kartarpur Corridor to link Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan with India’s Gurdaspur district, on Nov 28, 2018.

Former Indian cricketer and member of (Indian) Punjab cabinet Navjot Singh Sidhu and other Indian ministers were also present at the occasion.

The Kartarpur Corridor will provide visa-free access to Indian Sikh pilgrims to the Gurdwara in Kartarpur Sahib – a small town in Narowal, four kilometers from the Pakistan-India border, where Sikhism’s founder Baba Guru Nanak spent the last 18 years of his life.

Foreign Office Spokesman Dr Muhammad Faisal in July said that the positive development had taken place during talks on Kartarpur Corridor between Pakistan and India.

Briefing media at Wagha, he said that a consensus has been reached on eighty percent issues regarding  Kartarpur Corridor, whereas the rest of the issues will also be resolved during future talks.