Kartarpur Corridor Not Connected To Dialogue Process With Pakistan: Sushma Swaraj
The External Affairs Ministers, Sushma Swaraj, while campaigning ahead of the Telangana elections on December 7, stated that the Kartarpur corridor initiative has nothing to do with the dialogue process with Pakistan and talks can start the moment Islamabad stops terror activities in India.
India, for many years, has been asking for a corridor to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur that will alleviate visa-free travel from Indian Sikh pilgrims. She said that she was happy that Pakistan, for the first time, had responded positively to the request.
About four kilometers from the Dera Baba Nanak shrine, Kartarpur Sahib is located across the river Ravi in Pakistan. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan will lay the foundation stone for the much-awaited corridor. This corridor with link Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur – the final resting place of Sikh faith founder Guru Nanak Dev – to Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India’s Gurdaspur district.
Kartarpur corridor won’t lead to bilateral dialogue with Pakistan, says Sushma Swaraj https://t.co/CzlBxhLpVw
— TOI India (@TOIIndiaNews) November 28, 2018
Pakistan had invited Swaraj for the foundation stone laying ceremony of Kartarpur corridor but Swaraj, who was unable to travel to Kartarpur Sahib due to prior commitments, had said India would be represented by Union ministers Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Hardeep Singh Puri.
Recently, acknowledging Kartarpur as a “corridor of infinite possibilities”, Punjab Cabinet minister Navjot Singh Sidhu said that such initiatives would promote peace and erase “enmity” between India and Pakistan. Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had first suggested the corridor during a trip to Lahore in 1999. Further, Vice President Naidu called it “beginning of a new chapter” in bilateral ties and said it will act as a “unifier” to build bridges across old chasms.
