MEA says India-Pakistan meeting on Kartarpur Corridor to take place at Attari-Wagah instead of New Delhi on March 14

Earlier on Tuesday, Pakistan had said that their delegation will visit New Delhi on 14 March 2019, followed by the return visit of the Indian delegation to Islamabad on 28 March 2019, to discuss the draft Agreement on Kartarpur Corridor

India also proposed that a technical level discussion on the alignment of corridor be held on the same day on the sidelines of this meeting./ AFP IMAGE

NEW DELHI: MEA on Wednesday said that the first meeting between India and Pakistan on 14 March to finalize modalities for Kartarpur Corridor would be held at Attari-Wagah (Indian side) instead of the capital New Delhi. India also proposed that a technical level discussion on the alignment of corridor be held on the same day on the sidelines of this meeting. Earlier on Tuesday, Pakistan had said that their delegation will visit New Delhi on 14 March 2019, followed by the return visit of the Indian delegation to Islamabad on 28 March 2019, to discuss the draft Agreement on Kartarpur Corridor.

Kartarpur talks between India/Pak on 14th at Attari-Wagah (Indian Side)....Not in New Delhi @abpnewstv

— Ashish (ABP News) (@AshishSinghLIVE) March 6, 2019

“In keeping with Government's decision to operationalise the Kartarpur Corridor on the occasion of the 550th Birth Anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev ji and meet the long pending public demand to have easy and smooth access to the holy Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib, the first meeting between India and Pakistan to discuss and finalize the modalities for Kartarpur Corridor would be held at Attari-Wagah (Indian side) on 14 March 2019” the MEA statement read. This development comes amid heightened tensions between India and Pakistan following a suicide attack by Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad that killed 40 CRPF personnel in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on February 14. India and Pakistan had agreed to open up a special border crossing linking Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan's Kartarpur - the final resting place of Sikh faith's founder Guru Nanak Dev - to Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India's Gurdaspur district. Kartarpur Sahib is located in Pakistan's Narowal district across the river Ravi, about four kilometres from the Dera Baba Nanak shrine. Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib, the first Gurdwara, was established by Guru Nanak Dev in 1522, where he is said to have died. The corridor will facilitate the visa-free travel of Indian Sikh pilgrims to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur. In January, the two countries floated proposals to host talks in order to give the final shape to the agreement. Pakistan has committed to open the corridor in November on the occasion of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak. India's Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on November 26 last year laid the foundation stone for the Kartarpur corridor in Gurdaspur district. Two days later, Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan laid the foundation stone for the corridor at Narowal, 125 km from Lahore.