Another U-turn by Pak on Kartarpur corridor, to charge $20 service fee on inauguration day

In yet another U-Turn, Pakistan on Friday said it will charge the service fee of $20 for every pilgrim visiting the Kartarpur Gurdwara Sahib even on the day of the inauguration of the corridor on November 9. 

This comes even as Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan in a tweet last week announced that Sikh pilgrims coming from India for a pilgrimage to Kartarpur will not be charged any fee on the day of inauguration and on Guru Nanak Dev's 550th birth anniversary on November 12.

Islamabad has levied a service fee of US $20 (around Rs 1,420) on each pilgrim despite India's repeated requests to reconsider the decision. 

On November 1, Khan had said that the pilgrims won't need a passport but only a valid identity card and they no longer have to register ten days in advance, besides his announcement on the service fee.

"For Sikhs coming for pilgrimage to Kartarpur from India, I have waived off 2 requirements: i) they wont need a passport - just a valid ID;  ii) they no longer have to register 10 days in advance. Also, no fee will be charged on day of inauguration & on Guruji's 550th  birthday," Imran Khan's tweet read. 

On Thursday, the Pakistan Army had said that Indian devotees visiting the Kartarpur Sahib through the corridor will need a passport, in what was seen as a snub to Imran Khan. 

The corridor connects the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Punjab's Gurdaspur with Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur in Pakistan.  

Last year both India and Pakistan agreed on the opening of the Kartarpur corridor to the Kartarpur Gurudwara on the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev Ji. Founder of Sikhism Guru Nanak Dev ji, spent the last 18 years of his life in the Gurudwara which is just a few kilometres away from the International border with India. 

The inauguration of the Kartarpur Corridor on both sides will take place on November 9.