India & Pakistan Extend Kartarpur Corridor Agreement for Five More Years

On 22 Oct, India and Pakistan extended the validity of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor agreement for another five years, said the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The agreement, originally signed on 24 Oct 2019, facilitates Indian pilgrims’ visits to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur in Pakistan’s Narowal district via the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor, which connects Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Panjab, India, to the Gurdwara across the river Ravi. The corridor holds significant importance for Sikhs as in the later part of his life Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhi, spent over 17 years farming and composing hymns at Kartarpur Sahib. While the community sees the opening of the corridor as a blessing of the Guru, politicians try to promote themselves or their leaders. Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and BJP leaders, including Panjab BJP chief Sunil Jakhar, praised PM Narendra Modi for his commitment to facilitating Sikh pilgrims’ access to their holy sites. The MEA stated that the extension ensures uninterrupted operation of the corridor, but reiterated India’s request for Pakistan to waive the $20 service charge levied per pilgrim per visit. Pakistan has collected approximately $6.1M from this fee since the corridor’s inauguration. However, Panjab govt. in Pakistan, led by CM Maryam Nawaz Sharif, announced on 25 Oct that it will provide $35 to 2,200 Sikh and Hindu families in the province ahead of Guru Nanak’s birth anniversary and Diwali (1 Nov) as part of a new ‘festival card’ programme. A new visa automation system has also been introduced to ease the visa process for foreign pilgrims. The next batch of Indian pilgrims are expected to enter Pakistan via the Wagah border on 14 Nov.