Pakistan urges India to reopen Kartarpur Corridor for pilgrims

The movement of pilgrims to Pakistan through the corridor has been suspended since March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic

A view of Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan. File

Pakistan on November 9 urged India to reopen the Kartarpur Corridor from its side and allow Sikh pilgrims to visit the holy site for the upcoming Guru Nanak Dev’s birthday celebrations.

The Kartarpur Corridor was inaugurated by Prime Minister Imran Khan on the eve of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev on November 9, 2019, according to the Foreign Office.

But the coronavirus pandemic hit the region along with the world just months after the opening of the corridor. The movement of pilgrims to Pakistan through the corridor has been suspended since March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the neighbouring country banned all travel from India citing the surge in cases in April this year.

India "is yet to open the corridor from its side and allow pilgrims to visit Kartarpur Sahib,” said the FO.

"We look forward to hosting devotees from India and around the world” for the upcoming Guru Nanak Dev’s Birthday celebrations from 17-26 November, it said.

"Pakistan expects that India in the spirit of cooperation would allow pilgrims to travel through the corridor to visit Kartarpur Sahib," it added.

The 4 km-long Kartarpur Corridor provides visa free access to Indian Sikh pilgrims to visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib. Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev lived and died at this gurdwara at the start of the 16th century.