ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan High Commission has issued more than 2,100 visas to Indian Sikh pilgrims to participate in the birth anniversary celebrations of Sikhism founder Baba Guru Nanak Dev Ji from Nov. 4 to 13 in Pakistan, state media reported this week.
Every year Sikh pilgrims travel from India to Pakistan through the visa-free Kartarpur Corridor, which links Gurdwara Darbar Sahib near Narowal in Pakistan’s Punjab with Gurdwara Dera Baba Nanak in India’s Gurdaspur district.
The corridor is a rare sign of cooperation between the bitter nuclear-armed neighbors, who recently engaged in a four-day military confrontation that saw them bombard each other with fighter jets, drones and trade artillery fire before they agreed to a ceasefire on May 10.
“During the visit, the pilgrims would, inter alia, visit Gurdwara Nankana Sahib, Gurdwara Panja Sahib and Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib,” the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) said in a report on Wednesday.
“The issuance of visas is covered under the framework of the Bilateral Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines, 1974.”
Pakistan’s Charge d’Affaires in India, Saad Ahmad Warraich, wished the Sikh pilgrims a “fulfilling and spiritually rewarding” journey.
He said Pakistan would continue to facilitate visits to sacred pilgrimage sites in line with its “abiding commitment to promoting inter-religious and inter-cultural harmony and understanding.”
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 more than seven decades, the Sikh community had lobbied for easier access to its holiest temple and Pakistan’s decision to open the corridor in 2019 earned widespread international appreciation.
