Kartarpur corridor: Indo-Pak officials to meet soon

A high-level meeting to discuss land acquisition and other modalities on Kartarpur corridor took place in the Home Ministry on Tuesday.

The focus was also on how pilgrims can get access to the Pakistani side with simple procedures. Issues concerning the pilgrims that were raised during the meetings were biometric records and online registration of pilgrims, along with timings. Sources say it was suggested that the corridor should be kept open only for 6 hours during day time. It was indicated that as of now no consensus has been achieved with Islamabad on the number of pilgrims per day.

According to sources in Pakistan, India is likely to propose a formal meeting on the Kartarpur corridor to Pakistan, soon. The meeting may happen between third week of January to First-week of February. Pakistan would accept the proposal and invite for a meeting, as and when proposed.

Noor-ul-Haq Qadri, Pakistan's Federal Minister for Religious Affairs and Inter-faith Harmony who visited Kartapar Sahib Gurudwara recently and said, "35% of work on the corridor on the Pakistani side has been completed."

Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has written to Home Minister Rajnath Singh, requesting waiver of the condition of mandatory passport for devotees & put in place simple procedures.