The Sikh religious organization SGPC has declared that it wants to reopen the Kartarpur Sahib corridor.
Chandigarh:
Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh said the Kartarpur corridor should be open to Sikh pilgrims. The Centre’s concern about this, he suggested, could be due to the growing number of coronavirus cases in Pakistan, which can be treated by social distancing.
“It is important to maintain social distance … the concern of the Union government could be the increase in the number of cases in Pakistan,” Singh told GalacticGaming.
India has questioned Pakistan’s offer to reopen cross-border movements to the famous Sikh pilgrimage site that took place this weekend.
“Cross-border travel has been temporarily suspended as part of measures to prevent and contain the spread of the coronavirus. Other views will be taken in consultation with health authorities and other interested parties,” a government source said this week. weekend.
Sources also pointed out that the brief two-day notice from Islamabad was in violation of the bilateral agreement which stipulated a deadline of one week.
Pakistan said on Saturday that it was ready to reopen the Kartarpur Sahib corridor for all Sikh pilgrims from June 29. Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi tweeted to say that he had announced that Islamabad was ready to reopen the 4.7-kilometer crossing to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib at Kartarpur in New Delhi.
The announcement comes as Pakistan is lifting restrictions on the coronavirus epidemic gradually.
The Sikh religious organization Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee has said it also wants to reopen the Kartarpur Sahib corridor, but the final decision will be made by the central government and the organization will comply with it.
“All Sikh pilgrims wish to reopen the Kartarpur Sahib corridor. Even the SGPC is of this opinion, but the final decision will be made by the Indian government because the issue concerns the health of Indian citizens. We will respect the Center,” said the SGPC secretary general, Dr. Roop Singh, quoted by the ANI news agency.
The 4.7 km crossing from Dera Baba Nanak Sahib to Gurdaspur in India and Gurdwara Darbar Sahib to Kartarpur in Pakistan was inaugurated in November by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
