Following escalating border tensions between India and Pakistan after the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, India has closed its aspect of the Kartarpur Corridor — the link between the two countries — indefinitely. The Union Ministry of Home Affairs’ Bureau of immigration introduced the closure of the hall “till further orders”.
The closure has halted the pilgrimage of Indian Sikh devotees to the ancient Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, Narowal district, Pakistan, while Pakistan maintains to hold the corridor open on its aspect.
Indian Sikh Pilgrims wait at Kartarpur Corridor
On Wednesday morning, round 150 Sikh pilgrims who had arrived on the Dera Baba Nanak integrated check post in Gurdaspur district have been head back after waiting over 90 minutes. In contrast, Pakistan has maintained that the Kartarpur Corridor remains open on its end.
Ramesh Singh Arora, president of the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC) and a former MLA, appointed as ambassador for the corridor, stated, “The hall is open from our aspect. It is a aware selection of our authorities to retain welcoming the pilgrims.”
He brought that the corridor was an image of peace, brotherhood, and harmony propagated by Guru Nanak Dev. “On Tuesday, we obtained around 200 pilgrims from India, and all at once, tomorrow, the advent was 0. When we checked, we have been told that India had stopped pilgrims from going to Kartarpur Corridor.
Pakistan Remains Open Its side
Despite the Kartarpur Corridor close from India’s side, the Pakistan authorities has determined to maintain it open as a goodwill gesture,” Arora said. He added that PSGPC had also started the way for facilitating pilgrimage visas to Indian pilgrims for June to mark the martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev.
The hall, inaugurated together by Indian PM Narendra Modi and then Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on November 9, 2019, fulfilled a long-status call for of the Sikh community to get entry to one in every of their holiest shrines without a visa.
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