ISLAMABAD/NEW DELHI: Pakistan welcomed Sikh pilgrims arriving from India's Punjab through the visa-free Kartarpur corridor on Wednesday to celebrate the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism.
Much of the Sikh heritage is located in Pakistan. When Pakistan was carved out of India at the end of British rule in 1947, Kartarpur ended up on the Pakistani side of the border, while most of the region's Sikhs remained on the other side.
Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur is of particular importance to the Sikh community as it was built in tribute to Guru Nanak, who established the town of Kartarpur in 1515. It is also his final resting place.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan, center right, along with Indian Politician Navjot Singh Sidhu, center, being briefed on the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor Project at Kartarpur on November 9, 2019. (PID/File)
The Pakistani government in 2019 opened the Kartarpur corridor, connecting Gurdwara Darbar Sahib to the border with India and allowing Indian Sikhs to visit the site. The opening of the corridor marked the first time Indian Sikh pilgrims could enter Pakistan without a visa since 1947.
The corridor was closed in March 2020 following the coronavirus outbreak. While Pakistan says it had reopened the passage in June 2020, Indian authorities gave the green light for pilgrims to cross the border from Wednesday, a week after Islamabad urged New Delhi to reopen the corridor from its side and allow Sikhs to participate in Guru Nanak’s 552nd birth anniversary celebrations in Kartarpur.
"Pakistan looks forward to welcoming Sikh pilgrims visiting Gurdwara Darbar Sahib through the Kartarpur corridor," Shah Mahmood Qureshi said in a statement as the corridor reopened.
Sikh devotees offer prayers as they look towards Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib, situated in Pakistan, at Kartarpur Corridor on November 17, 2021. (AFP)
Community members in Indian Punjab, a predominantly Sikh state, also welcomed the reopening, with its chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi saying politicians from the state would also travel to Pakistan.
“The entire cabinet will be part of the first jatha (group) which will visit and pay obeisance on November 18,” he told reporters.
Sukhwinder Agwan, caretaker of a Sikh temple in Shahida village in the Dera Baba Nanak Sahib area of Punjab, said he was waiting for the reopening "with bated breath" and was looking forward to reaching Pakistan on Thursday.
"I have applied for the permission to visit," he said. "Hopefully by tomorrow I should be able to visit Kartarpur."
Sukhdeep Singh Bedi, one of the Indian Sikh community leaders told Arab News "the opening of the corridor is the reflection of the wishes of the people of Punjab."
"This kind of exchanges between people of both the nation will help create a better atmosphere between India and Pakistan," he said, adding that he hoped the Kartarpur corridor would become a "corridor for peace and create a better understanding between both the nations."
