ISLAMABAD: Indian Sikh pilgrims will visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in the eastern Kartarpur town today, Monday, to mark the 555th birth anniversary of their religion’s founder Baba Guru Nanak Dev Ji, state media reported.
Every year Indian Sikh pilgrims cross over from India to Pakistan via a visa-free border crossing known as the Kartarpur Corridor. The corridor connects Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, near Narowal in Pakistan’s Punjab, to Gurudwara Dera Baba Nanak in Indian Punjab’s Gurdaspur district.
Inaugurated in 2019, the corridor is seen as a rare example of cooperation and diplomacy between the two South Asian neighbors.
“Sikh pilgrims will visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur on Monday to celebrate the 555th birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak Dev Ji,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported.
It said that the pilgrims would visit Gurdwara Rohri Sahib in Eminabad on Wednesday before concluding their journey in Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore.
Much of 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.
For over seven decades, the Sikh community had lobbied for easier access to their holiest temple.
Pakistan’s initiative to open the corridor earned widespread appreciation from the international community, including the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, who had described it as a “Corridor of Hope.”
Indian Sikh pilgrims to visit Kartarpur today to mark birth anniversary of religion’s founder
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Indian Sikh pilgrims to visit Kartarpur today to mark birth anniversary of religion’s founder
- Sikh pilgrims from India cross over into Pakistan every year via visa-free Kartarpur Corridor
- Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, Narowal, is Sikhism founder’s final resting place
Pakistan’s first digital Islamic banking platform partners with central bank to boost rural financial access
- Aik by BankIslami says Shariah-compliant digital finance can expand inclusion beyond urban centers
- Merchants, vendors and small business owners in rural area trained in how digital Islamic banking works
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s first fully digital Islamic banking platform, Aik by BankIslami, said on Tuesday it had partnered with the State Bank of Pakistan to hold financial literacy sessions in a rural community near the capital, part of efforts to expand digital payments and banking in underserved areas.
The initiative forms part of Islamabad’s national shift toward a cashless system, with the central bank describing digitalization as key to widening financial access, reducing cash dependency and aligning the economy with global banking practices.
Under the initiative, a training session was held in Maira Bagwal village where merchants, vendors and small business owners were trained in how digital Islamic banking works and how electronic payments can replace cash-based transactions that still dominate Pakistan’s informal economy.
“Through ‘aik’ we are helping drive the growth of Islamic banking by giving communities simple access to Shariah-compliant digital financial services,” Aik Chief Officer Ashfaque Ahmed said in a statement. “When people adopt digital banking, financial inclusion improves, and more families are able to participate in a fair and transparent financial system.”
Aik and BankIslami said they would continue working with the State Bank to run more awareness drives and onboard local merchants into the digital ecosystem.
Organizers said the session highlighted how electronic payments can make daily transactions safer, faster and more transparent for residents unfamiliar with banking, while ensuring compliance with Islamic finance rules that prohibit interest-based lending.
The statement added that Aik and BankIslami are focused on making Shariah-compliant digital banking simple, accessible and relevant to rural customers, a segment often excluded from formal finance despite Pakistan having one of the world’s fastest-growing Islamic banking markets.
The program falls under Pakistan’s Smart Village initiative, which aims to bring digital tools like mobile wallets, merchant QR payments, online banking and e-government interfaces to remote areas where formal banking penetration remains low.
