Keeping differences aside, Pakistan welcomes all; Issues tourist visa for non-Indian Sikhs for Kartarpur visit

New Delhi, October 30: Overcoming all hurdles and obstacles for a peaceful people-to-people initiative, India and Pakistan all set to inaugurate Kartarpur Corridor celebrating the 550th anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev. As Sikh pilgrims are all set to visit the pilgrimage, Pakistan has sought to issue tourist visas to non-Indian Sikhs who are planning to visit the Kartarpur corridor and other ‘gurudwaras’ in the country.

 

Under the Kartarpur Corridor agreement between India and Pakistan, pilgrims coming from India for one day would not require visa but they can only visit Gurudwara Baba Guru Nanak. However, those coming from other countries will need a visa and be free to visit other religious places. "The Pakistan government will issue tourist visas to (non-Indian) Sikhs coming from Europe, Canada and America for their visit to the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, Kartarpur Narowal, some 125kms from Lahore," said an official from the Pakistan Foreign Office.

The official said Indian pilgrims will have to obtain a visa for touring other holy sites in Pakistan. Sharing a list, India asserted almost 575 pilgrims will go in the inaugural jatha to Gurudwara Darbar Sahib through the Kartarpur corridor in Pakistan. This includes former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, Union Ministers Hardeep Puri, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh, MPs and MLAs from Punjab among others.

India and Pakistan signed the historic Kartarpur corridor agreement on October 24. The Kartarpur corridor will connect the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India's Punjab with Darbar Sahib at Kartarpur, just 4 kilometres from the International Border, located at Narowal district of Pakistan's Punjab province.

While Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Indian side of the corridor on November 8, his Pakistani counterpart will open the corridor on November 9.