India, Pakistan officials to meet on 14 July to finalise modalities for Kartarpur corridor

india

Updated: Jul 02, 2019 19:40 IST

Indian and Pakistani officials will meet on 14 July to discuss the draft pact for finalising the modalities of the Kartarpur corridor, a foreign ministry statement issued by Islamabad said on Tuesday.

“Pakistan remains committed to expedited progress on the matter to ensure that the Corridor is operationalized in time for the 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Baba Guru Nanak in November 2019,” the Pakistan’s foreign ministry spokesperson said.

India had earlier proposed 11-14 July to Pakistan as dates for a meeting of officials to finalise the ground rules for the corridor, which will link Dera Baba Nanak in Indian Punjab with Gurdwara Darbar Sahib at Kartarpur in Pakistan.

The first meeting of officials was held at Attari on 14 March.

The 14 July meeting will be held on the Pakistani side of the Attari-Wagah border.

New Delhi’s proposal for resumption of talks on the corridor comes months after India cancelled the second meeting in April over the inclusion of pro-Khalistan activists such as Gopal Chawla and Bisan Singh in a Pakistani committee to facilitate Sikh pilgrims.

Technical experts of the two sides have so far held three rounds of discussions at the border to try and finalise the corridor’s alignment, crossing point and infrastructure.