India yet to reopen Kartarpur corridor: FO

Islamabad: Pakistan on Monday said as it had reopened the Kartarpur Corridor on June 29, 2020 with COVID related necessary health safety protocols, India had yet to reopen the corridor from its side and allow Sikh pilgrims to visit Kartarpur Saheb.

“The corridor was temporarily closed on March 16, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” the Foreign Office said in a statement issued here on the occasion of first anniversary of the historic opening of the Kartarpur Corridor.

The corridor, inaugurated on November 9, 2019 by Prime Minister Imran Khan on the eve of the 550th birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak, fulfilled the long-awaited desire of Sikh community from all over the world, it added.

As the religious places started gradually opening up around the world, Pakistan also reopened the corridor on June 29, 2020 with COVID related necessary health safety protocols, the FO mentioned.

“India has yet to reopen the corridor from its side and allow the Sikh pilgrims to visit Kartarpur Saheb,” it added.

Kartarpur has a special significance in the Sikh religion, as the first Guru of Sikhism, Baba Guru Nanak Saheb, had spent the last years of his life there.

The Kartarpur Corridor, also known as the ‘Peace Corridor’, was a true symbol of interfaith harmony and religious unity, the FO said.

Sikh as well as the international community, including United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who while visiting Kartarpur described it as the ‘Corridor of Hope’ immensely appreciated the landmark initiative of Pakistan, it added.