A day after receiving Islamabad’s reply on the Pulwama dossier, New Delhi on Friday postponed a meeting on Kartarpur Corridor scheduled for April 2.
The NDTV reported that India summoned Pakistan’s deputy high commissioner and conveyed objections over the presence of Khalistani activists in the panel set up by his country on Kartarpur. “It has been conveyed to Pakistan that the next meeting on the modalities can be scheduled at an appropriate time after receiving Pakistan’s response,” a statement issued by the Indian external affairs ministry said.
The Foreign Office (FO) in Islamabad regretted the Indian decision and termed the last-minute postponement ‘incomprehensible’. “Pakistan regrets the Indian decision to postpone the upcoming Kartarpur meeting, jointly agreed by both sides on 14 March 2019,” said FO Spokesperson Dr Faisal. “The meeting was to discuss and build consensus on outstanding issues,” he said, and lamented India’s move without seeking Pakistan’s views, especially keeping in view that the last technical meeting remained productive.
Questioning Pakistan’s ‘intentions’, the Indian external affairs ministry said that the presence of people like Maninder Singh Tara, a Khalistani leader, and Gopal Singh Chawla, allegedly close to Laskar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed, will cause ‘disharmony’.
According to the NDTV, New Delhi said the Katarpur facility “should not be used for anti-India propaganda” and Pakistan must clearly say how it will like to bridge the ‘substantive gaps’ between the two countries on pilgrims’ movement to the shrine.
Last November, Pakistan and India agreed to set up the border crossing, linking Gurudwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, the final resting place of Guru Nanak Dev, to Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Indian Punjab’s Gurdaspur district. Kartarpur Sahib is located in Narowal district, about four kilometres from the Dera Baba Nanak shrine.
India has, however, proposed in the statement that the infrastructure development for the corridor should go forward and in an expeditious manner. “India has proposed to hold another meeting of technical experts in mid-April to resolve outstanding issues at the zero point agreed to at the last meeting,” the statement clarified. “The Indian government remains committed to realizing the long-pending demand of the Indian pilgrims to visit Kartarpur Sahib, using the corridor in a safe, secure, smooth and easy manner,” the statement added.
Earlier in the day, the Foreign office had invited Indian media to apply for visas to cover the April 2 meeting at Wagha. “Pakistan welcomes Indian media for the Kartarpur Corridor meeting at Wagah on April 2, 2019. They may apply to Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi for visas #PakKartarpurSpirit,” Dr Faisal had tweeted. This was in contrast to India’s refusal to allow Pakistani journalists to cover the last meeting on the Kartarpur Corridor held at Attari.
The corridor is planned to be opened for Sikh pilgrims this year in commemoration of the 550th birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak. The groundbreaking of the project on the Pakistani side was performed by Prime Minister Imran Khan at Kartarpur Sahib on Nov 28, 2018.
In January, Pakistan had shared its draft of Kartarpur Corridor accord with India and invited its delegation for a visit for negotiating the document.
Earlier this month, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had reaffirmed its commitment to continuing negotiations on the proposed Kartarpur Corridor agreement and announced that the two neighbouring countries would exchange visits by their respective delegations.
On March 14, officials from Pakistan and India agreed to expedite work to operationalise the corridor after talks on the matter concluded on a cordial note in Attari, India. Delegations of Pakistani and Indian technical experts met on March 19 at the proposed zero points to discuss and finalise the development of the Kartarpur Corridor. It was decided that both sides will present surveys and maps for border fencing and developmental work on the Dera Baba Nanak-Kartarpur Sahib corridor to their respective governments.