Kartarpur corridor - Will it open a channel for peace between India and Pakistan?

Kartarpur corridor is a proposed border gate between India and Pakistan connecting the Sikh holy shrine of Dera Baba Nanak sahib in India to the holy shrine of Kartarpur sahib in Pakistan. It is planned to open the corridor for the Indian pilgrims on 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak.


 The Kartarpur corridor allows Sikh pilgrims in India to visit the holy shrine of  Kartarpur sahib in Pakistan through a road link without any visa. The shrine is so revered as it is believed that Guru Nanak spent his final 18 years in the Kartarpur sahib.The gurudwara was established by the first Sikh Guru in 1522. Also the shrine is the repository of one of the last copies of  original Guru Granth Sahib.

At present important landmarks of  the Nishan sahib of the Kartarpur sahib gurudwara can be seen with help of binoculars from a raised platform constructed by the BSF near the border.


For many decades,the pilgrims have been demanding that India and Pakistan should collaborate to build a corridor connecting the Dera Baba shrine and Kartarpur sahib shrine. The corridor would cut down the travel time from 4 hrs via Lahore to 20 mins through the proposed corridor.

 Former Prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee first proposed the corridor during his bus trip to Lahore in 1999. Finally the project was cleared in a cabinet meeting headed by PM Modi on November 22,2018.After some hours,Pakistan also responded positively to the corridor. Indian vice president Venkaiah Naidu and Punjab CM attended the ground breaking ceremony of the corridor and on November 28,the Pakistan PM Imran khan will lay foundation to the corridor from Pakistan side.

 Both the countries claimed credit for the initiative and the Pakistan PM Imran Khan has invited Indian leaders to the ground breaking ceremony in Pakistan. Indian External affairs minister and Punjab CM captain Amarinder Singh rejected the invitation as the Indian Jawans are still losing their lives across the border and involvement of ISI in the recent bombings in Amritsar. On the other hand,Punjab minister Navjot Sidhu expressed optimism on thaw in relations between India and Pakistan with this new initiative. 

 It is true that the corridor would open a new channel for people to people contact between the countries,it further improves the cultural ties between both the countries. But it is difficult to say that the corridor can improve the ties between both the countries.Ten years have been completed since 26/11 attacks took place and  the culprits are still at large in Pakistan roaming freely in the country. So,till the Pakistan takes serious actions on terror related activities inside its territory,the peace between the countries will be a distant dream.

 The Pakistan PM Imran Khan called for a renewed peace dialogue between Indian and Pakistan during the ground breaking ceremony on Pakistan side. He expressed the opinion that Pakistan government and Army are on one page.He struck a discordant note on Kashmir and referring it as a "Single issue" between both the countries. The External affairs ministry of India expressed it regrets by saying that Imran Khan is politicizing the event by referring to Kashmir issue.  This shows both the countries are clearly not on same page to start a peaceful dialogue process. 

 Sources :
https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/kartarpur-corridor-all-you-need-to-know-top-10-facts-1954064.
https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/govt-to-approach-pm-on-kartarpur-corridor/640763.html

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