India invites delegation for Kartarpur agreement in response to Pakistan’s invitation

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A day after Pakistan invited an Indian delegation to visit Pakistan for finalising the agreement for the opening of Kartarpur Corridor, the Indian government on Tuesday invited a Pakistani team to visit the country.

Reportedly, two dates have been suggested for the Pakistani delegation’s visit to India. The team will either leave for New Delhi on February 26 or March 7. No details regarding the delegation’s itinerary have surfaced so far.

Prime Minister Imran Khan will make the final decision regarding sending the delegation.

Two months after PM Khan laid the foundation stone for the Kartarpur Corridor, Pakistan on Monday invited an Indian delegation to Islamabad to finalise the agreement, according to a statement issued by the Foreign Office (FO).

The FO had said that the draft agreement between the two countries has been shared with New Delhi through the Indian High Commission in Islamabad.

“This was in line with Islamic principles that advocate respect for all religions and Pakistan’s policy of promoting inter-faith harmony and religious tolerance and also in line with Quaid’s vision of a peaceful neighbourhood,” the FO said. The statement had added that FO spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal had been appointed as the focal person and it requested New Delhi to do the same.

The Kartarpur Corridor will connect two Sikh holy sites — Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur in Pakistan and Dera Baba Nanak in India. The corridor will facilitate the Indian Sikh community in visiting the sacred place where their spiritual leader Baba Guru Nanak lived for 18 years until his death in 1539. The groundbreaking ceremony of the Kartarpur Corridor was attended by Indian cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa among others.