Capt Amarinder asks Centre to discuss Kartarpur corridor with Pakistan

Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh has urged the Centre to seek access for Sikh pilgrims to the Kartarpur Sahib shrine in Pakistan, an issue which local bodies minister Navjot Singh Sidhu said figured briefly during his visit to Islamabad for the swearing-in ceremony of Imran Khan.

Amarinder urged external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj to take up the matter with her Pakistan counterpart for having a corridor from the international border to Kartarpur opened so that devotees can visit the historic gurdwara during the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, a Punjab government statement said on Wednesday.

In a letter to the Union minister, the CM has asked her to make a personal effort on the issue, saying it has been a longstanding demand of the Sikh community.

The letter by Amarinder has come after Sidhu, during his visit to Pakistan on August 16, claimed that Pak army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa has assured him to open the corridor on the 550th anniversary of Guru Nanak.

“The corridor will allow devotees to visit the gurdwara in Kartarpur, which is located across the Ravi, around 4km from the international border near Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district,” said Amarinder.

The CM said the 550th birth anniversary of the first Sikh Guru, who breathed his last in Kartarpur, is being observed in November 2019.

The then prime minister Manmohan Singh too had given assurances on the corridor during his visits to Punjab on September 1, 2004, said Amarinder.

First Published: Aug 23, 2018 10:17 IST