ISLAMABAD External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj was invited to visit Pakistan by her counterpart Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Saturday to attend the groundbreaking ceremony of the Kartarpur corridor.
A long-pending demand of the Sikh community to build a religious corridor linking India’s border district of Gurdaspur with a historic gurudwara in Pakistan may finally be fulfilled with both the countries announcing that stretches would be developed in their respective areas.
Prime Minister Imran Khan will inaugurate the groundbreaking ceremony of the facilities at on the Pakistan side on November 28.
Apart from Swaraj, Qureshi also invited Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and cabinet minister Navjot Singh Sidhu to the ceremony.
“On behalf of Pakistan I have extended an invitation to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj @SushmaSwaraj, Capt Amarinder Singh @capt_amarinder & Navjot Singh Sidhu @sherryontopp to attend the groundbreaking ceremony at #Kartarpura on 28 Nov 2018,” Qureshi tweeted.
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In a significant decision, India’s Cabinet Thursday cleared a proposal to develop a corridor from Dera Baba Nanak in Punjab’s Gurdaspur district to the International Border to facilitate Indian pilgrims to visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur in Pakistan.
The issue of Kartarpur Sahib came into focus after Punjab Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu visited Pakistan in August to attend the oath-taking ceremony of Khan as prime minister of that country.
After his return, Sidhu said that Pakistan Army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa had told him that Pakistan may open a corridor to Kartarpur Sahib.
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Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said that Punjab cabinet minister Navjot Singh Sidhu would visit the country to attend the groundbreaking ceremony of the Kartarpur Border corridor.
Prime Minister Imran Khan will inaugurate the groundbreaking ceremony of the facilities at the crossing on the Pakistan side on November 28.
Chaudhry confirmed that the former Indian cricketer would visit the country. This will be Sidhu’s second visit to Pakistan this year.
Sidhu told Roznama Express that he has gladly accepted the invitation, sent by khan for the November 28 event. He said the Pakistani premier was his friend and he will visit the country whenever he is invited by him.
“I don’t have words to express my joy,” he said.
A long-pending demand of the Sikh community to build a religious corridor linking India’s border district of Gurdaspur with a historic gurudwara in Pakistan may finally be fulfilled with both the countries announcing that stretches would be developed in their respective areas.
Two Sikh ministers to represent India in Kartarpur ceremony
Union Ministers Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Hardeep Singh Puri will travel to Pakistan next week for the groundbreaking ceremony of the Kartarpur corridor, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj conveyed to Islamabad Saturday.
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Swaraj’s response came hours after Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi invited her to visit Pakistan to attend the ceremony on November 28.
In a letter to Qureshi, Swaraj thanked her Pakistani counterpart for the invite, and said she was unable to travel to Kartarpur Sahib due to prior commitments including election campaign in Telangana and that India will be represented at the ceremony by Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Puri.
“Being mindful of the sentiments of our Sikh citizens and the importance of facilitating their smooth and easy access to holy Gurudwara Katarpur Sahib, we will be sending Hasimrat Kaur Badal, Minister for Food Processing and Industries, and Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs, as the Government of India’s representatives for the event planned for November 28,” she said in the letter.
Swaraj also hoped that the Pakistan government will expedite the construction of the corridor in order to ensure that “our citizens can pay their respects at the Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib using the corridor as soon as possible”.
On Thursday, both the countries announced that they would develop the Katarpur corridor in their respective areas, linking India’s border district of Gurdaspur with Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan.
Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, the final resting place of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev, is located across the Ravi river in Pakistan and is about four kilometres from the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district of Punjab in India.
The corridor, once built, will give Indian pilgrims easy access to the shrine.
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