Date not fixed yet for inauguration of Kartarpur corridor: Pak spokesperson

Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Faisal said on Thursday (October 10) that the date for the inauguration of the much-awaited Kartarpur corridor has not been fixed yet.

At the same time, he assured that it will be open “on time” for the 550th birth anniversary of the Sikh faith founder Guru Nanak Dev on November 12.

Addressing a weekly press briefing here at Islamabad, Faisal said, “Work on the Karatarpur corridor will be completed on time as committed by the prime minister (Imran Khan). It will be inaugurated on time, but I can’t give any date for its opening as no date has been fixed so far.”

The statement came almost a month after a senior official who had been in charge of the corridor project announced that Pakistan will allow Indian Sikh pilgrims to visit the holy Kartarpur Sahib from November 9.

The corridor will connect Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur with Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district of Punjab. It will enable visa-free movement of Indian pilgrims, who will only have to obtain a permit to visit Kartarpur Sahib.

The Kartarpur Sahib was established in 1522 by Guru Nanak Dev.

Pakistan is building the corridor from the Indian border to the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, while the other portion from Dera Baba Nanak in Punjab’s Gurdaspur district up to the border will be constructed by India.

On September 16, during a maiden visit of Pakistani and foreign journalists to the proposed Kartarpur Corridor in Narowal, which was around 125 km from Lahore, the project director, Atif Majid, said that 86 per cent of the work on the corridor has been completed and that it will be open to pilgrims on November 9.

The Foreign Office spokesman said that former Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh has been formally invited for the inaugural ceremony.

He added that Pakistan will continue to highlight the plight of Kashmiris at world forums.