‘Kartarpur plan not a response to Pakistan proposal’

NEW DELHI: Two months after a bid by the new government in Pakistan to restart talks with India failed, the two countries seem on the verge of a breakthrough by agreeing on a Kartarpur corridor after the Modi government on Thursday approved a road on its side of the border.With the Cabinet approving the development of a corridor to enable smooth passage of pilgrims seeking to visit Guru Nanak ’s final resting place at Kartarpur across the border, India “approached and urged” Islamabad to develop the passage on its side too so as to facilitate unrestricted flow of devotees.The corridor on the Indian side will begin from Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur to the international border with Pakistan. The Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur is located across the border on the banks of the Ravi.Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi responded to India’s announcement by tweeting that Islamabad has already conveyed to India its decision to open the corridor for Guru Nanak’s 550th birth anniversary in 2019 and that PM Imran Khan would do the groundbreaking for facilities at Kartarpur on November 28.India’s decision to build the corridor, announced by finance minister Arun Jaitley, came on the eve of Gurpurab, or Guru Nanak Jayanti. It came a day after Pakistan media reported that Pakistan was going to build a 2.5-km corridor leading to Kartarpur Sahib in its territory and that Khan himself would lay the foundation stone next week.Indian government sources said the Cabinet passed the resolution after many weeks of consultations. The move to build a corridor will also serve to test the commitment of the Pakistani side, which, despite suggestions that a corridor was in the works, had not moved on the project.The Kartarpur corridor project, cleared by the Centre on Thursday, has political hues too, with Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu announcing that the corridor is being constructed after he visited Pakistan for the swearing in of Imran Khan as PM. He had explained his hug of Pakistan army chief Qamar Bajwa saying he was assured help for the corridor. The Centre’s announcement was immediately hailed by all parties in Punjab, including Akali Dal, BJP, Congress and AAP.Officials explained the timing of the announcement, saying: “The Cabinet usually meets on Wednesday but due to Milad-un Nabi holiday it met Thursday and approved the resolution. The resolution is a comprehensive document that contains detailed information on plans for the celebration of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev, not just on the corridor.”Indian officials said any suggestion that the corridor was planned as a response to a Pakistani proposal was not only preposterous but also hurtful to the sentiments of the Sikh community.Apart from Qureshi, another senior Pakistan minister, Fawad Chaudhry, described the Indian Cabinet’s decision as a victory for the “peace lobby” in both countries. Islamabad had earlier this week approved visas for 3,800 Sikh pilgrims who wanted to visit religious shrines in Pakistan on the occasion of Guru Nanak’s birthday.The proposal to open the corridor has been a long standing demand for India for more than 20 years, sources here said as they blamed Pakistan for not acknowledging the request. Chaudhry had announced soon after the Khan government took over that Pakistan would consider opening the corridor.Officials here said that India’s intention was that the corridor must be a “full-fledged one that allows for maximum movement”. It should be open not just on special occasions but throughout the year.The government wants the corridor to, and as it has also conveyed to Pakistan, remain open 365 days, 24 hours. It has also demanded that there be no restriction on the number of pilgrims travelling across the border.