India, Pakistan shake hands to fulfil religious sentiments of people; phase II of Kartarpur corridor concludes

New Delhi, April 17: Moving forward in fulfilling the promises of pilgrims in accordance to Kartarpur corridor, India and Pakistan held the second technical level talks on Tuesday. The meeting took place at the 'zero point' at Dera Baba Nanak border.

 

Taking cognizance of the situation, India has offered to make a flyover from Darshni Sthal, from where the holy site could be seen from the Indian side, till the 'zero point' where India-Pak corridors meet. India had proposed Tuesday's meeting to address the outstanding technical issues. Currently, the project is being implemented on the ground with speed.

Meanwhile, Pakistan has agreed to construct a bridge over Ravi river which will act as a causeway between both the sides and connect Dera Baba Nanak on the Indian side with Kartarpur on the other. However, the cost of the causeway will be shared by both the countries is still unclear.

The meeting was attended by engineers and other officials. The first meet took place last month on March 19. During that meeting, which included engineers and surveyors, the survey of the site was done and the alignment of the corridor was also discussed. During the meeting that was held last month, India had postponed the second India-Pakistan official talks after it raised concern over the presence of Khalistanis on Pakistan’s committee.

The first India-Pak officials' meet took place on March 14. India had then proposed that the corridor should be open to Indian citizens and Indian diaspora with 5,000 people allowed every day. Islamabad wasn't keen on the Indian proposal saying they can only allow 700 people, that too only Indian citizens, on designated days with a paid permit.

India has already clarified that the talks do not mean the resumption of a dialogue process. The corridor has been a long-standing demand of Indian citizens of Sikh faith. Pakistan agreed to the demand after India announced last year in November that it will build the corridor.