Kartarpur Corridor a distant dream for pilgrims as India, Pakistan wait for each other to make first move

Thousands of Indian Sikh Pilgrims stare with uncertainty at their long-pending demand of Kartarpur Sahib Corridor, as government says Pakistan has not sent any official communication for establishing the corridor.

Sidhu had courted controversy by hugging Pakistan Army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa and claimed that he did so as Bajwa told him that the Pakistan government was working out opening of the Kartarpur corrdidor for Sikh pilgrims from Indian state of Punjab. Image: PTI

New Delhi: Days after Punjab Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu rekindled the hopes of thousands of Indian Sikh pilgrims with claims that Pakistan has decided to open the corridor to the holy Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib, the talks from both sides have apparently fallen in a rut, with government refuting his claims. On Monday Sidhu met External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and urged her to help initiate dialogue with Pakistan on the opening of the corridor. Union minister and Akali leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal, however, claimed that Swaraj "reprimanded" Sidhu for "messing up" the issue of the Kartarpur Sahib corridor dialogue and accused him of "misusing" the political clearance granted to him in visiting Pakistan recently to attend Imran Khan's swearing-in as prime minister there, PTI reported. "External Affairs Minister (Swaraj) reprimands Navjot Sidhu for messing up Kartarpur Sahib corridor dialogue and misusing political clearance granted for private visit by hugging military Chief responsible for killing our soldiers," Badal said. As per ANI, Sushma Swaraj has stated that the Pakistani government has so far neither agreed to include visits to Kartarpur Sahib by Indian pilgrims under bilateral protocol nor has sent any official communication for establishing the corridor. Sidhu had courted controversy by hugging Pakistan Army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa and claimed that he did so as Bajwa told him that the Pakistan government was working out opening of the Kartarpur corrdidor for Sikh pilgrims from Indian state of Punjab. Harsimrat Kaur in her presser accused Sidhu of misleading the people with false claims. She refuted the claims of initiation of dialogue over the opening of corridor from Pakistan’s side and asked Sidhu to produce the documents to support his claims. She said, if Sidhu's terms with Imran Khan and army chief General Bajwa are so strong then why does he not ask them to open the long-sought route. With no party ready to initiate the dialogue, the opening of Kartarpur corridor still seems a distant dream for the pilgrims who have been waiting for years.