NEW DELHI: India and Pakistan announced on Tuesday that they have agreed to extend their agreement on the Kartarpur Corridor, which allows visa-free travel by Indian nationals to the gurdwara built at the Pakistani site where Guru Nanak spent the last years of his life.
The Indian side has again urged Pakistan not to levy any fee or charges on Indian nationals using the corridor following continued requests by pilgrims for the removal of the $20 service charge levied by Pakistan on every pilgrim, the external affairs ministry said in a statement.
“It has been agreed between India and Pakistan through diplomatic channels to extend the validity of the Agreement on Sri Kartarpur Sahib Corridor for a further period of five years,” the statement said.
The agreement, signed on October 24, 2019, to facilitate the visit of Indian nationals to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur at Narowal in Pakistan’s Punjab province, was valid for five years. At the time of the opening of the corridor, the measure was seen as a significant confidence-building measure between the two rivals.
“Extension of the validity of this Agreement will ensure uninterrupted operation of the Corridor for use by the pilgrims from India to visit the holy Gurdwara in Pakistan,” the statement said.
According to figures provided by the government in Parliament in mid-2022, more than 110,670 Indian nationals and holders of Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cards have used the corridor since its inauguration in November 2019 to visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib.
The agreement had fulfilled the long-standing demand of Indian citizens to have easy and smooth access to the gurudwara and the corridor was opened in time for the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak.
To facilitate visits by Indians, Pakistan built infrastructure, including a highway from the town of Dera Baba Nanak to Zero Point on the border, while \India constructed an integrated checkpost on its side.