India, Pakistan to Meet on March 14 to Finalise Modalities For Kartarpur Corridor
This would be the first official meeting between India and Pakistan after tensions escalated between the two countries.
New Delhi, March 6: India and Pakistan will attend the first meeting to finalise modalities of Kartarpur Corridor on March 14, said the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Wednesday. This would be the first official meeting between India and Pakistan after tensions escalated between the two countries following the Pulwama terror attack and subsequent air strikes by Indian Air Force (IAF).
"The first meeting between India and Pakistan to discuss and finalise the modalities for Kartarpur Corridor would be held at Attari-Wagah (Indian side) on 14 March 2019," the MEA said in a statement. "India has also proposed that a technical level discussion on the alignment of the corridor be held on the same day on the sidelines of this meeting," the ministry added. Pulwama Attack: What Has This Bloodshed Got to Do with Kartarpur Corridor, Asks Sidhu.
The Indian government, on the eve of Guru Purab on November 22 last year, approved the construction of Kartarpur Corridor from Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district to the India-Pakistan International Border. The Pakistan government had also confirmed the corridor’s opening. The Kartarpur route, along with the India-Pakistan border, is 3 kms away from Gurdaspur in Punjab.
Once functional, the corridor would allow Sikh pilgrims direct access to the historic Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, Pakistan, where Guru Nanak passed away in 1539. India Aims to Complete Its Part of Kartarpur Corridor Work Before Pakistan: Rajnath Singh.
Tensions between India and Pakistan reached a peak after Pakistan Air Force's aircraft violated the Indian airspace. This happened a day after India launched an anti-terror strike against a Jaish-e-Mohammed terror training camp in Balakot in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. India’s airstrike came in the aftermath of the February 14 terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district in which around 40 CRPF jawans were killed.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 06, 2019 06:10 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).