India ready to go ahead with March 14 meeting with Pakistan on Kartarpur

india

Updated: Feb 28, 2019 20:46 IST

India is ready to go ahead with the March 14 meeting with Pakistan to finalise the modalities of the Kartarpur corridor, sources said on Thursday amid tense bilateral ties between the two neighbours.

India and Pakistan were scheduled to meet on March 14 to finalise the modalities of the much-awaited corridor, particularly its coordinates, but the Pulwama terror attack and the escalating tensions in the last few days raised serious doubts about the possibility of the meet.

Sources said India is still ready for the discussion on the Kartarpur issue as it affects a sizeable number of Indians. The proposal for talks came from the Pakistani side and was accepted by India, they added.

The proposed corridor will provide easy access to Sikh pilgrims to Guru Nanak’s final resting place Gurdwara Darbar Sahib at Kartarpur in Pakistan’s Punjab province.

India and Pakistan agreed to give access to Sikh pilgrims from the Indian side to Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib. Both laid foundation stones for the project in November last year.

The work on the project continued as usual on both sides of the border even though relations between India and Pakistan have soured. Pakistani officials overseeing the project said work was not stopped and there was no communication from their government in this regard.

Pakistan had suspended the Samjhauta Express train service to India on Thursday morning. The biweekly train service between India and Pakistan was scheduled to depart from Lahore with 16 passengers. It embarked on its journey from Karachi but the passengers are stuck at Lahore railway station.

India had also revoked the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to Pakistan after the Pulwama attack. MFN status offered Pakistan certain trade privileges. India had also raised customs duty on all imports from Pakistan to 200%.