BJP president Amit Shah and SAD chief Sukhbir Badal termed as "historic" the Union Cabinet's decision on Thursday to develop a corridor to facilitate Sikh pilgrims visiting Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan.

Earlier in the day, the Union Cabinet chaired by Modi approved to build and develop a corridor from Dera Baba Nanak in Punjab's Gurdaspur district to the International Border to facilitate Sikh pilgrims visiting Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib on the banks of the Ravi river in Pakistan.

Kartarpur Sahib, located just across the International Border, is the final resting place of Guru Nanak Dev and one of the holiest shrines of Sikhs.

The decision was taken to commemorate the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.

Addressing a press conference here, the BJP's ally Shriomani Akali Dal (SAD) chief, flanked by his wife and Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, said, "It's a historic day for the entire Sikh community and we would like to thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Cabinet for this historic decision. This has been a wish of each and every Sikh for the last 70 years."

Sukhbir Badal said the SAD has been persistently requesting successive central governments for this corridor.

The SAD is part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre.

"We used to pray for 'Khule Darshan Deedar' of those gurdhaam which have been separated from us. Today, the Cabinet has given green signal to opening of Kartarpur corridor. Every Sikh in India is awaiting for similar gesture now from Pakistan," Harsimrat Kaur Badal said.

On the question of Congress leader and Minister in the Punjab government, Navjot Sidhu's role in the building of the corridor, Sukhbir denied his any involvement in this process.

"Who is Sidhu? Sidhu doesn't have any role in it. No one takes him seriously. This is a government-to-government process," he said.

Echoing similar sentiments BJP's national secretary R P Singh said the Modi government has done what no government had done for past several decades.

The BJP government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has always been sensitive towards sentiments of Sikhs. The decision to build Kartarpur corridor proves that, Singh said.

Kartarpur Sahib is situated in Narowal district of Pakistan's Punjab province and there have been demands to build a corridor linking it with Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district of Punjab.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)