PM Modi likens the Kartarpur corridor to fall of Berlin Wall

NEW DELHI: PM Narendra Modi seemed to throw his weight behind the initiative by both India and Pakistan to open the Kartarpur border for Sikh pilgrims when he late on Friday likened it to the fall of Berlin Wall.

Addressing a gathering of mainly Sikhs on the occasion of Gurpurab, Modi said the corridor could help bring together the people of India and Pakistan. “Kisne socha tha ki Berlin ki deewar gir sakti hai. Shayad Guru Nanak Dev Ji ke aashirwad se, Kartarpur ka corridor sirf corridor nahi, jan jan ko jodne ka bahut bada karan ban sakta hai,” news agency ANI quoted Modi as saying on Friday.

Modi’s remarks seemed to take the sting away from the foreign ministry’s tongue-lashing of Pakistan for the latter’s alleged support to those carrying out Khalistan “propaganda’’ on its soil. MEA’s “strong protest" came a day after India announced that it was going to build a corridor to Kartarpur Sahib on its side of the international border.

It’s not clear yet though if the government is looking to build on the Kartarpur ‘thaw’ by seeking, as Modi had called for in his letter to his counterpart Imran Khan, some meaningful engagement. According to MEA sources, there is no proposal as of now to propose any substantive dialogue with Pakistan. The last time the two countries had such an engagement was in December 2015 when they announced resumption of the dialogue process under the name Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue.

The situation, sources said, hasn’t really changed from what it was two months ago when India cancelled a meeting between the foreign ministers 24 hours after it announced the meeting in response to a proposal from Khan. Former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal says one should not read too much into Modi’s remarks as PM himself did not probably mean that it would lead to an immediate breakthrough.

“Berlin Wall collapsed because of ideological and political opening up in the Soviet Union. PM’s remarks can be construed as an expectation of a similar collapse of ideological and political animosity, potentially leading to betterment of ties between the two countries,’’ said Sibal.

While Modi had sought meaningful engagement with Pakistan, Khan had responded by proposing a meeting between the foreign ministers on the side lines of UN General Assembly session. India later cancelled the meeting citing the murder of 3 J&K SPOs.