India, Pakistan fail to finalise pilgrimage corridor agreement
India and Pakistan could not finalise an agreement on a cross-border pilgrimage corridor owing to Islamabad's insistence on twenty dollars service fee for Indian pilgrims during the third round of talks held in India's Attari on Wednesday.
However, the two countries agreed on visa-free travel by Indian pilgrims to a key shrine in Kartarpur, in Pakistan, where Sikh religion founder Guru Nanak Dev spent the last 18 years of his life, reports our New Delhi correspondent.
India is keen that the pilgrimage begins through the Kartarpur Sahib corridor on the auspicious occasion of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.
At Wednesday's meeting, both sides reached the agreement on visa- free travel of Indian pilgrims without any restrictions based on their faith and 5,000 pilgrims can visit the gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib using the corridor every day, the Indian Home Ministry said in a statement released on Wednesday evening.
It was also agreed that additional pilgrims, over and above the figure of 5,000, can visit on special occasions, subject to capacity expansion by Pakistan side. Pakistan has conveyed its assurance to increase this number.
The corridor will be operational throughout the year and seven days a week and pilgrims will have a choice to visit as individuals or in groups and on foot, our correspondent reports quoting the statement.
Both sides also agreed to build a bridge on Pakistani side over a river and pending the construction both sides agreed to the crossing point coordinates of a temporary service road being built.
"However, owing to inflexibility shown by Pakistan," the agreement could not be finalised on Wednesday as "Pakistan has insisted on charging a service fee for allowing pilgrims to visit gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib, which is repugnant to the spirit of the Kartarpur Sahib corridor," according to the Indian Home Ministry.
It said "Pakistan has also shown its unwillingness to allow the presence of protocol officials at the gurdwara premises to accompany the pilgrims for their facilitation. Pakistan side was strongly urged (India) to reconsider its position," the statement added.
Further, despite India's persistent request to allow additional ten thousand pilgrims on special occasions, Pakistan has highlighted infrastructural constraints on their side and conveyed that they may be able to step up subject to the availability of capacity.
India has also underscored the importance of ensuring safe and secure environment for the pilgrims and in this context, the Indian delegation at the meeting shared concerns regarding individuals or organizations based in Pakistan who may try to disrupt the pilgrimage and misuse the opportunity to play with the sentiments of the pilgrims.
It said significant progress has been made in setting up a state-of-the-art infrastructure, including passenger terminal on the Indian side that can handle over 15,000 pilgrims a day. This is targeted to be completed by October 31 this year.
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