India, Pakistan to hold 1st meet on Kartarpur corridor today

NEW DELHI: Officials from India and Pakistan will meet at Attari near Amritsar on Thursday, amid heightened bilateral tensions since the Pulwama terrorist attack, for their first meeting to finalise the modalities of the proposed cross-border Kartarpur corridor to enable Indian pilgrims to pray at the historic Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara in Pakistan.
The meeting is being held to discuss the draft agreement for setting up a dedicated corridor that will allow pilgrims from India to visit the Sikh shrine – located in Pakistan’s Narowal district, about 4.5 kilometres from the international border near the border town of Dera Baba Nanak in Punjab’s Gurdaspur district – without obtaining a visa.

Officials from the home and foreign ministries of the two countries will attend the meeting at Attari, 30 km from Amritsar. The officials will also have a technical level discussion on the alignment of the project, said people aware of the matter.

The meeting will take place a month after the February 14 terrorist attack in Pulwama.