Progress on Kartarpur border corridor hailed

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said that Prime Minister Imran Khan will inaugurate the construction of Kartarpur border corridor between Pakistan and India on November 28.And yesterday India approved the building of a new border entry point and road connecting the northern state of Punjab to the border with Pakistan, making it quicker and easier for Sikh pilgrims to visit a holy site.Qureshi tweeted that “Pakistan has already conveyed to India its decision to open Kartarpur Corridor for Baba Guru Nanak’s 550th birth anniversary. PM Imran Khan will do break ground at Kartarpur facilities on 28th November. “We welcome the Sikh community to Pakistan for this auspicious occasion”.Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry has welcomed the Indian cabinet’s announcement on the Kartarpur corridor, calling it a “victory of peace”.“Indian Cabinet endorsement of Pakistan’s proposition on #KartarPurBorderOpening is victory of peace lobby in both countries,” he tweeted. “It’s a step towards right direction and we hope such steps will encourage voice of reason and tranquillity on both sides of the border.”Pakistan’s Foreign Office had said that the bid for opening of Kartarpur border corridor between Pakistan and India had made swift progress and that good news in this regard was in the offing.“The Kartarpur Corridor will soon see the light of day, which will greatly facilitate Sikh pilgrims crossing two countries,” Foreign Office spokesman Mohamed Faisal said at a weekly press briefing.The Kartarpur Corridor, on completion, will connect the Sikh holy shrines of Dera Baba Nanak Sahib and Kartarpur Sahib shrine situated at the two Punjabs of India and Pakistan respectively.The idea to construct and open the Kartarpur Corridor was firstly raised by Pakistan’s veteran politician Anwar Aziz Chaudhry decades ago.Earlier this year, the opening of corridor was first conveyed by Pakistan army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa to visiting former Indian cricketer and India’s Punjab Minister Navjaot Singh Sidhu at the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Khan in August.Thousands of Sikh devotees are currently visiting Pakistan to attend the 549th birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak, with 3,838 visas issued.Many Sikhs see Pakistan as the place where their religion began: the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak, was born in 1469 in a small village near Lahore.Thousands of Sikhs already visit the shrine in Pakistan every year.The decision was taken in a meeting chaired by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said Home Minister Rajnath Singh.“In landmark decision, the Cabinet approves building and development of Kartarpur corridor from Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district to International Border.“The Kartarpur corridor project, with all modern amenities and facilities, would be implemented with central government funding,” the minister tweeted.He further added that the Kartarpur corridor will provide smooth and easy passage to pilgrims to visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib throughout the year.The corridor indicates a thaw in relations between the two nuclear-armed foes.In September, India called off a meeting between their foreign ministers to protest the killing of Indian security personnel in Kashmir.Talks have been stalled for years over Kashmir, claimed by both countries and ruled in part by each of them.Pakistan and India have fought two of their three wars since independence from Britain in 1947 over the region.