Agreement On Kartarpur To Be Signed Tomorrow

(@fidahassanain)

Agreement on Kartarpur  to be signed tomorrow

The sources say India stepped back today and demanded Pakistan of waive off $ 20 fee per pilgrim.

ISLAMABAD: (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News-23rd Oct, 2019) Pakistan and India will sign Kartarpur agreement by tomorrow, Foreign Office Spokesperson Dr. Mohammad Faisal said on Wednesday.

According to media reports, India was due to sign agreement on Wednesday (today) but stepped back citing the reason of $20 fee per pilgrim visiting Kartarpur. India, the sources said, was demanding that $20 fee per pilgrim should be waived off.

They said India was handed over final draft of the proposed bilateral agreement on Oct 11 while Pakistan also accepted New Delhi’s demand to allow devotees of other faiths – Hindus, Christians, Zoroastrians, etc – to visit Baba Guru Nanak Devji’s final resting place. At least 5,000 pilgrims, under the agreement, would be allowed to visit the holy site every day. India would share the list of pilgrims 10 days in advance and Pakistan would verify and finalise it four days before the visit, the draft said.

The sources said that now the agreement between Pakistan and Indian on Kartarpur corridor would be signed on Thursday (today).

Dr. Mohammad Faisal, the director general of (SA & SAARC) would sign the agreement between both the countries. Previously, Pakistan formally invited former prime minister of India Manmohan Singh to attend the opening ceremony of Kartarpur Corridor on the occasion of the 550th Birth Anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak.

At this, former PM Manmohan Singh and Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that he (Manmohan Singh) would visit Pakistan as a ‘yatri’ (ordinary citizen) and not as chief guest for the corridor’s opening.

“Singh is welcome even as a common participant,” the Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said while talking to the media on Saturday.

The Foreign Minister stated that PM Imran Khan would inaugurate Pakistan’s part of the corridor.

According to the reports, India,initially, was reluctant to open the corridor but due to public pressure from the Indian Punjab, the Indian government decided to arrange a ceremony related to the corridor the same day while Pakistan made better arrangements as compared to India. It may be mentioned here that the corridor would be the first visa-free corridor between the two neighbouring countries since their independence in 1947.

Pakistan built corridor from the Indian border to the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib while the other part from Dera Baba Nanak up to the border was built by by India. The India, the reports suggested, had built a bridge on its side and urged Pakitan to build the same for secure and better movement of pilgrims.

Fida Hussnain

Fida Hussnain is a lahore based journalist. He writes on politics, religion, social issues and climate change. He is also a research fellow at University of Gujrat.