Pakistan on Monday accepted India’s proposal for a technical meeting on the Kartarpur Corridor to be held on April 16.
“Continuing with #Pakistan’s spirit of constructive engagement, we have agreed to the Indian proposal for a technical meeting on 16 April. We expect positivity from #India so that the corridor becomes reality for 550th celebrations. #PakistanKartarpurSpirit,” Foreign Office spokesman Dr Faisal posted on his Twitter handle.
The development comes days after India postponed a Kartarpur meeting which was to be held on April 2 on the Pakistani side. On March 29, Dr Faisal had announced via Twitter that India had postponed the scheduled Kartarpur meeting between the two sides at Wagah border. While announcing its decision to postpone the meeting, New Delhi had said it had “sought clarifications from Pakistan on key proposals put forward by India at the last meeting held in Attari to discuss the modalities of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor.” The statement by the Indian external affairs ministry had said that “the next meeting on the modalities can be scheduled at an appropriate time after receiving Pakistan’s response.”
Pakistan, in a statement, had regretted India’s decision, saying, “Last minute postponement without seeking views from Pakistan and especially after the productive technical meeting on March 19 is incomprehensible.”
The Kartarpur Corridor is expected to provide visa-free access to Indian Sikh pilgrims to the Gurdwara in Kartarpur Sahib – a small town in Narowal, four kilometres from the Pakistan-India border, where Sikhism founder Baba Guru Nanak spent the last 18 years of his life.