India, Pakistan To Hold Third Round Of Talks On Kartarpur Corridor Today

Earlier, India gave its list of proposals to Pakistan where it has sought permission for the visit of 10,000 Indian pilgrims to Kartarpur on special occasions

New Delhi:  India, Pakistan will conduct the third round of high-level talks on Wednesday for the proposed Kartarpur Corridor. Officials from both sides will today meet at 10 am on the Indian side of the Wagah-Attari border where they are expected to finalise a draft agreement regarding opening of the corridor that will allow visa-free access to Sikh pilgrims from India to Gurdwara Kartarpur Darbar Sahib. Earlier, India gave its list of proposals to Pakistan. As part of its proposal, India has sought permission for the visit of 10,000 Indian pilgrims to Kartarpur on special occasions. The Indian side has also sought permission from Pakistani authorities for Sikh pilgrims to prepare and distribute free food during their stay in Kartarpur, PTI sources said. According to diplomatic sources, Pakistan has accepted an Indian proposal for the arrival of up to 5,000 Sikh pilgrims and their visa-free entry in a day. It has also accepted another demand of arrival of the pilgrims in groups or individually walking to Kartarpur. Pakistan and India have been discussing the modalities regarding the opening of the corridor at Narowal, some 125-km from Lahore, on the occasion of 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak in November. Over the past few months, many rounds of meetings have been held on the corridor during which the experts from the two sides have discussed its alignment, coordinates and other engineering aspects of the proposed crossing points. In July, delegations of the two countries held a meeting on the Pakistani side of the Attari-Wagah border to discuss the modalities of the Kartarpur corridor.The corridor will also be the first visa-free corridor between the two neighbours since their independence in 1947. It is reported that Pakistan is building the corridor from the Indian border to the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, the final resting place of Guru Nanak, while the other part from Dera Baba Nanak up to the border will be constructed by India. India is constructing a bridge at the zero point and has urged Pakistan to build a similar bridge on its side that will provide safe and secure movement of pilgrims and address concerns regarding flooding. The bridge is over a creek of which the majority part falls in Pakistan. (agency inputs)