Days after EAM visit, Pakistan agrees to extend Kartarpur Sahib pact for 5 yrs
Close on the heels of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s Islamabad visit for the SCO summit, a first by an Indian Foreign Minister in nine years, India and Pakistan on Tuesday agreed to extend the validity of the Agreement on Sri Kartarpur Sahib Corridor for a further period of five years.
The Ministry of External Affairs said it had been agreed between India and Pakistan through diplomatic channels to extend the validity of the agreement.
The agreement, signed on October 24, 2019, to facilitate the visit of pilgrims from India to Gurdwara Sri Darbar Sahib Kartarpur, Narowal, Pakistan, through the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor, was valid for a period of five years.
“The extension of the validity of this agreement will ensure uninterrupted operation of the corridor for use by the pilgrims from India to visit the gurdwara in Pakistan. In view of the continued requests of pilgrims regarding the removal of the $20 service charge levied by Pakistan per pilgrim per visit, India has once again urged Pakistan not to levy any fee or charges on the pilgrims,” an official statement said.
The agreement was signed in 2019 to fulfil the long-standing demand of the pilgrims to have easy and smooth access to the Pakistan gurdwara and to operationalise the corridor for the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.
The agreement provides for visa-free travel of Indian pilgrims, as well as Overseas Citizen of India cardholders, from India to the Pakistan gurdwara on a daily basis, throughout the year. Since its inauguration on November 9, 2019, Sri Kartarpur Sahib Corridor has been used by over three lakh pilgrims.
