Centre looking at reopening Kartarpur Corridor, with curbs

Sources said discussions are underway between the ministries of external affairs and home affairs, including on "security considerations".

Kartarpur Sahib Corridor, which connects Gurudwara Darbar Sahib (Pakistan), the final resting place of the first Sikh Guru, with Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur, was closed in March 2020 after the Covid-19 outbreak.

A DAY after Punjab BJP leaders met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Sunday and submitted a memorandum requesting him to reopen the Kartarpur Corridor to Pakistan, sources said that the government is “considering reopening the corridor with certain conditions”.

Sources said discussions are underway between the ministries of external affairs and home affairs, including on “security considerations”. According to sources, Covid-19 restrictions may be put in place, including social distancing, double vaccination, RT-PCR tests within 72 hours, and the numbers may be restricted.
The Kartarpur Corridor, which opened in November 2019, has been closed since March 2020 due to the pandemic. With Punjab headed to polls early next year, the reopening of the corridor can yield political dividends.

Last week, Pakistan had urged India to reopen the Kartarpur Corridor and allow Sikh pilgrims to visit the holy site for Guru Nanak Dev’s birth anniversary celebrations. The 4 km-long corridor provides visa-free access to Indian Sikh pilgrims to visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib.

Shubhajit Roy

Shubhajit Roy, Diplomatic Editor at The Indian Express, has been a journalist for more than 25 years now. Roy joined The Indian Express in October 2003 and has been reporting on foreign affairs for more than 17 years now. Based in Delhi, he has also led the National government and political bureau at The Indian Express in Delhi — a team of reporters who cover the national government and politics for the newspaper. He has got the Ramnath Goenka Journalism award for Excellence in Journalism ‘2016. He got this award for his coverage of the Holey Bakery attack in Dhaka and its aftermath. He also got the IIMCAA Award for the Journalist of the Year, 2022, (Jury’s special mention) for his coverage of the fall of Kabul in August 2021 — he was one of the few Indian journalists in Kabul and the only mainstream newspaper to have covered the Taliban’s capture of power in mid-August, 2021. ... Read More

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