Second round of meeting between India, Pakistan on Kartarpur Corridor on July 14

New Delhi, July 02: The second round of meeting between the officials of India and Pakistan to discuss the modalities pertaining to the construction of Kartarpur corridor would be held on July 14, 2019. The first meeting on Kartarpur corridor was held on March 14, 2019.

In the last meeting, India had sought visa-free access from Pakistan for 5,000 pilgrims per day to the historic Sikh shrine in Kartarpur. On the very next day of the meeting, India rued that Pakistan wants a limit of just 500 pilgrims a day on yatris crossing the border to visit shrine Kartarpur sahib and also asked for a special permit to be issued to each pilgrim.

Also, India had conveyed its strong concerns to Pakistan over the presence of a leading Khalistani separatist in a committee appointed by Islamabad on the Kartarpur project.

Pakistan, today, conveyed to India that the second meeting to discuss the draft agreement for finalizing the modalities of Kartarpur Corridor and related technical issues will be held on 14th July 2019 at Wagah, reports quoted Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs as saying on Tuesday.

The meeting comes after India postponed the second round of talks on corridor after reports surfaced about the appointment of "controversial elements" by Pakistan in a committee associated with the corridor. More than 45 per cent of work on the Indian side has been completed. The two countries were previously slated to meet on April 2, in Pakistan for the second round of talks, which was postponed.

Despite the postponement, India offered to hold a technical meeting to discuss other aspects, according to India's Ministry of External Affair Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar. India is aiming to complete the road by the end of September in 2019 and the passenger/pilgrim terminal by end October, 2019, in time to operationalise the Kartarpur corridor on the occasion of the 550th birth Anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev in November, 2019.

Kartarpur is located in Pakistan's Narowal district across the Ravi river, about four km from Dera Baba Nanak.