Pakistan PM Imran Khan invites Manmohan Singh for Kartarpur Corridor inauguration
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has formally invited former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the inauguration ceremony of the Kartarpur Corridor in November, Pakistan's foreign ministry said.
The former Prime Minister's office had earlier said it has no information about the invite so far and sources indicated that he is unlikely to attend.
The opening of the Kartarpur Corridor has been scheduled for November 9, 2019. Addressing the media, the Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Faisal said that the Kartarpur Corridor opening will take place as per schedule. However, no date has been fixed so far for the inauguration of the corridor which is set to open on the occasion of the 550th birth anniversary of Sikh faith founder Guru Nanak Dev.
The proposed corridor will connect Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur with Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district of Punjab and facilitate visa-free movement of Indian pilgrims, who will have to just obtain a permit to visit Kartarpur Sahib, which was established in 1522 by Guru Nanak Dev.
Pakistan is building the corridor from the Indian border to the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, while the other part from Dera Baba Nanak in Punjab's Gurdaspur district up to the border will be constructed by India.
On September 16, during a maiden visit of Pakistani and foreign journalists to the proposed Kartarpur Corridor in Narowal, some 125 km from Lahore, the project director, Atif Majid, said 86 per cent of the work on the corridor had been completed and it will be opened to pilgrims on November 9.