Kartarpur Diplomacy Stays On Track
India and Pakistan on Thursday agreed to work “expeditiously” to operationalise Kartarpur Sahib Corridor and decided to hold a meeting of the technical experts on March 19, which will be followed by another round of talks on the issue on April 2.
“The first meeting to discuss the modalities and the draft Agreement for facilitation of pilgrims to visit Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib using the Kartarpur Corridor was held today at Attari, India in a cordial environment. Both sides held detailed and constructive discussions on various aspects and provisions of the proposed agreement and agreed to work towards expeditiously operationalizing the Kartapur Sahib Corridor,” read the statement.
“It was agreed to hold the next meeting at Wagah on 2 April 2019. This will be preceded by a meeting of the technical experts on 19 March 2019 at the proposed zero points to finalize the alignment,” further read a statement.
An eighteen-member Pakistani delegation arrived in India on Thursday. The Indian delegation was led by S.C.L. Das, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs. The Pakistan delegation was led by Mohammad Faisal, DG (SA and SAARC) of Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affair
Meanwhile, The Indian delegation is scheduled to visit Islamabad on March 28, according to Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Kartarpur Corridor is a long pending demand of Indian devotees which have been a matter of discussion since 1999 when Atal Bihari Vajpayee visited Lahore. It also figured in discussions in composite dialogue, where Pakistan was asked to make Kartarpur part of 1974 protocol as one of the holy shrines in 2005, sources said.
(ANI)
