The Pakistani delegation would be led by Foreign Office spokesperson Dr Muhammad Faisal. The deliberations would start at 10 am. Both countries have agreed that Pakistan would allow 5,000 Sikh visitors per day into the country through the corridor.
On Friday, officials discussed the technical modalities of the Kartarpur corridor for the Sikh pilgrims in a first meeting after New Delhi revoked held Kashmir’s special status leading to fresh tensions between the two countries.
The meeting was held at the Zero point, where the Indian and Pakistani side of the proposed corridor converge.
The corridor will connect Darbar Sahib in Pakistan’s town of Kartarpur with Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India’s city of Gurdaspur and facilitate visa-free movement of Indian Sikh pilgrims, who will, then, only have to obtain a permit to visit Kartarpur Sahib.
Over the past few months, many rounds of meetings have been held on the corridor during which the experts from the two sides have discussed its alignment, coordinates and other engineering aspects of the proposed crossing points.
In July, delegations of the two countries held a meeting on the Pakistani side of the Attari-Wagah border to discuss the modalities of the Kartarpur corridor.
The corridor will also be the first visa-free corridor between the two neighbors since partition in 1947.
Pakistan is building the corridor from the Indian border to the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, while the other part from Dera Baba Nanak up to the border will be constructed by India.
On November 26 last year, Indian Vice President Venkaiah Naidu laid the foundation stone of the Dera Baba Nanak – Kartarpur Sahib Corridor (up to the International Border) at an event at Mann village of Gurdaspur district.
