Kartarpur Corridor: Pak yet to allow Indian advance team, no response on India's list for inaugural 'jatha'

With just three days left for the opening of the Kartarpur corridor on November 9, Pakistan is yet to allow the visit of Indian advance teams to Kartarpur Gurudwara to check the arrangements that have been made and has also not responded with confirmation to the list New Delhi had shared of prominent Indian Sikh leaders who are part of the inaugural 'jatha'. 

Sources in India said that Pakistan refused to "extend full cooperation" which is against the "spirit of pilgrimage" and this "despite Pakistan's insistence" on levying $20 service fee on the pilgrims.

India had shared the list of 575 pilgrims who are part of the inaugural 'jatha' to the Kartarpur Sahib and includes former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, Punjab Chief Minister Amrinder Singh, Union Ministers Hardeep Puri and Harsimrat Kaur Badal and several MPs and MLAs from Punjab.

Islamabad has claimed to have made a number of arrangements for the opening of Kartarpur corridor on its side which will be inaugurated by Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan. 

Kartarpur ready to welcome Sikh pilgrims. pic.twitter.com/P0uEQgWyMs

— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) November 3, 2019

The Indian government sources, however, said "Pakistan has unilaterally decided on the programme and timing of the inaugural jatha" without taking input from the Indian side.

In fact, Islamabad hasn't even shared critical information like availability of medical facilities and security arrangements of pilgrims, Indian govt sources said. 

This comes even as Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan in a tweet last week said Sikh pilgrims coming from India for a pilgrimage to Kartarpur are not required to carry passport but only valid ID and won't require to register 10 days in advance. 

Sources said this has created confusion since in the MOU signed in October, the passport was a necessary requirement and Islamabad hasn't bothered to get back to India after Imran Khan's tweet, leading confusion among the pilgrims.

While the inauguration of the Kartarpur Corridor on the Indian side will take place on November 8, the ceremony on Pakistan side will be held the next day. 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 on the 550th birth anniversary of the founder of Sikhism Guru Nanak Dev. Guru Nanak spent the last 18 years of his life in in Karatrpur which is just a few kilometres away from the International border with India.