Days after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s visit to Pakistan for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation or SCO meeting, India and Pakistan announced on Tuesday that they have agreed to extend the agreement on the Kartarpur Corridor, which allows visa-free travel by Indian nationals to the gurdwara built at the Pakistani site where Guru Nanak spent the last years of his life.
The Indian side has again urged Pakistan not to levy any fee or charges on Indian nationals using the corridor following continued requests by pilgrims for the removal of the $20 service charge levied by Pakistan on every pilgrim, the external affairs ministry said in a statement.
“It has been agreed between India and Pakistan through diplomatic channels to extend the validity of the Agreement on Sri Kartarpur Sahib Corridor for a further period of five years,” the statement said.
The agreement was signed on October 24, 2019, to facilitate the visit of Indian nationals to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur at Narowal in Pakistan’s Punjab province, was valid for five years.
“Extension of the validity of this Agreement will ensure uninterrupted operation of the Corridor for use by the pilgrims from India to visit the holy Gurdwara in Pakistan,” the ministry statement further added.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also posted about it on social media platform X, writing “India and Pakistan have renewed the agreement on Sri Kartarpur Sahib Corridor for the next five years. PM @narendramodi’s government will continue to facilitate our Sikh community’s access to their holy sites.”
India and Pakistan have renewed the agreement on Sri Kartarpur Sahib Corridor for the next five years.
PM @narendramodi’s government will continue to facilitate our Sikh community’s access to their holy sites.
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) October 22, 2024
Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur, often called just Kartarpur Sahib, is one of the holiest shrines for Sikhs as Sikh Guru, Guru Nanak Dev preached there during the last eighteen years of his life.
After Partition of India in 1947, Kartarpur Sahib fell on the Pakistan side of the International Border. With India being the home for more than 95 per cent of all Sikhs globally, pilgrims from all over India always demanded access to go to Kartarpur Sahib, which is in Shakargarh Tehsil, Narowal District, in Pakistan’s Punjab Province.
