——— Move underscores Pakistan’s enduring commitment to fostering interfaith harmony and peaceful coexistence, says FO
——— The accord was renewed for another five years
By Asghar Ali Mubarak
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has renewed the agreement with India for another five years to allow pilgrims from India to visit Gurudwara Kartarpur via visa-free corridor.
Originally signed on October 24, 2019 for a five-year term, the agreement is set to complete its initial duration on October 24, 2024. But before its expiry, the foreign office here on Tuesday announced the renewal of the agreement. “The Government of Pakistan has announced the renewal of the Agreement between the Republic of India and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan for the facilitation of pilgrims to visit Gurudwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur, Narowal, Pakistan for an additional period of five years,” read a foreign office statement.
“Agreement’s renewal underscores Pakistan’s enduring commitment to fostering interfaith harmony and peaceful coexistence,” it added.
The agreement continues to offer visa-free access to pilgrims from India enabling them to visit the sa-cred site of Gurudwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur, where Baba Guru Nanak, the revered founder of Sikh-ism, spent his final days. Since its inception, the corridor has facilitated the pilgrimage of thousands of worshippers to this holy site.
“The Kartarpur Corridor fulfills the long-cherished aspirations of the Sikh community for an access to one of their most revered religious landmarks,” the foreign office said.
The foreign office said it reflected Pakistan’s recognition of the importance of safeguarding the rights of religious minorities.
The initiative has earned widespread appreciation from the international community, including the United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, who described it as a “Corridor of Hope.”
The Kartarpur initiative was the first visa-free corridor established between Pakistan and India. Earlier, pilgrims had to take a longer route to visit Kartarpur shrine and endure many bottle necks to obtain a visa.
The opening of the corridor has allowed pilgrims to visit their holy shrine without any hassle.
It was dubbed as “corridor of peace” when it was inaugurated in November 2019. It was hoped that the opening of the visa free corridor eased tensions and increased people to people contact. Several prominent leaders from both sides attended the opening ceremony.
Then prime minister Imran Khan inaugurated the corridor while former Indian prime minister Manmo-han Singh, Navjaut Singh Sidhu and other Indian politicians were in attendance.
However, the full potential of corridor could not be achieved as it was observed that India imposed tough restrictions for their pilgrims to visit this side of the border.
The renewal of agreement for another five years however suggested that Pakistan is keen to facilitate pilgrims from the other side to continue visiting Kartarpur Sahib.
The move from Pakistan came just days after Indian External Affairs Minister Jaishankar visited Islama-bad for the SCO summit.
Although there was no bilateral meeting, the top Indian diplomat did interact informally with his Paki-stani counterpart and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The visit went without any mishap and hiccup as both sides avoided trading blame against each other during the SCO conference.
