Pak shares Kartarpur draft pact, calls India "urgently" to finalise deal

Lahore, Jan 22: Pakistan on Monday said it has shared a draft agreement on the Kartarpur Corridor with India and invited New Delhi to "urgently" send a delegation to Islamabad to "negotiate and finalise" the proposal.

The proposed agreement aims at facilitating travel of Indian Sikh pilgrims to Darbar Sahib Kartarpur Gurudwara in Narowal, nearly 4 km away from Gurdaspur border on the Indian side.

"The draft agreement between the two governments has been shared with New Delhi through the Indian High Commission in Islamabad," Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Faisal said in a statement.

The move is in line with Pakistan's policy of promoting inter-faith harmony and religious tolerance and Mohammad Ali Jinnah's vision of a peaceful neighbourhood, he added.

Pakistan has appointed Director-General (South Asia and SAARC) as the focal person on its side and requested India to designate its focal person soon.

Pakistan also invited India to "urgently send a delegation to Islamabad to negotiate and finalise the agreement", Faisal said.

He also tweeted, "Continuing with PM Imran Khan's initiative, Pakistan, today, shared the proposed draft agreement on Kartarpur Corridor with India. Indian delegation invited to visit Islamabad for expedited conclusion of the agreement. Keeping promises - Work in progress on Kartarpur Corridor on Pakistan side."

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on November 26 last year laid the foundation stone of the Kartarpur corridor in Gurdaspur district.

Two days later on November 28, Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan laid the foundation stone of the corridor at Narowal, 125 km from Lahore.

The decision to build the corridor - from Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district to the international border - was taken by the Union Cabinet on November 22.

The much-awaited corridor will connect Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur - the final resting place of Sikh faith's founder Guru Nanak Dev - with Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district and facilitate visa-free movement of Indian Sikh pilgrims, who will have to just obtain a permit to visit Kartarpur.

The corridor was a long-pending demand of the Sikh community. Pakistan had committed to open the corridor in November on the occasion of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.

PTI