India and Pakistan sign agreement on Sikh shrine
A point of contention in the signing of the Kartapur Corridor agreement was the insistence of Pakistan to levy $20 as service charge per pilgrim per visit. India has consistently urged Pakistan to not levy any fee on the pilgrims.
India and Pakistan signed an agreement on Thursday, October 24th allowing Indian pilgrims to cross the border to a Sikh shrine in Pakistan, rare cooperation between the nuclear-armed rivals at a time of tension and clashes elsewhere on their frontier, reported Reuters.
The pact will introduce visa-free access from India to the Pakistani town of Kartarpur, home to a temple that marks the site where the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak, died.
“Today is a day of celebration,” Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Faisal told a signing ceremony in Kartarpur.
Prime Minister Imran Khan will formally open the border to pilgrims on Nov. 9, said Faisal, who signed the agreement on behalf of Pakistan with an Indian official.
“It was very, very difficult and tough negotiations with India, because of the history we have, it is never easy, it is never simple,” Faisal said.
The Sikh minority in India has long sought easier access to the temple, which is just over the border in Muslim-majority Pakistan.
The pact comes at a time of considerable tension between the rivals, with Pakistan particularly aggrieved over recent Indian government measures in its part of the divided Muslim-majority region of Kashmir.
Clashes have erupted regularly over their disputed border in Kashmir with several people killed on both sides in shelling over the weekend.
The inauguration of the crossing point comes just before the 550th birthday of Sikhism’s founder on Nov. 12.
The shrine is about 4 km (2-1/2 miles) from the border. The crossing and corridor – including a road, bridge over the Ravi River and immigration office – will replace a drawn-out visa process and circuitous journey through Pakistan.
A point of contention in the signing of the Kartapur Corridor agreement was the insistence of Pakistan to levy $20 as service charge per pilgrim per visit. India has consistently urged Pakistan to not levy any fee on the pilgrims.
Faisal said the $20 was a service charge, not a fee, and pilgrims would just have to present their passports, which would be quickly scanned, to cross in.
However, India said that “In view of the long pending demand of the pilgrims to have visa free access to Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib and in the interest of operationalisation of the Corridor in time before the 550th Birth Anniversary of Guru Nanak falling on 12 November 2019” it has signed the agreement on Kartarpur Sahib Corridor. But it urged Pakistan to consider waiving the fee.
India’s Home ministry has issued a “dos and don’ts” for the pilgrims. Children below 13 years and elderly persons of about 75 years and above will have to travel in groups. The pilgrims will travel in the morning and shall have to return the same day.
Pilgrims, who wish to visit the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur in Pakistan will be allowed to carry a maximum of Rs 11,000 and a 7-kg bag, and will not be allowed to venture beyond the shrine.
