ISLAMABAD – Foreign Office has said that over ten thousand Sikhs from Indiaand other parts of the world will attend the inauguration of KartarpurCorridor to be performed by Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday.
At his weekly news briefing in Islamabad on Thursday, Foreign OfficeSpokesperson Dr Muhammad Faisal said that under the 1974 agreement with NewDelhi regarding religious pilgrims, about five thousand pilgrims will comefrom India whereas our missions abroad have issued the same number ofvisas. He said the pilgrims from different countries including Canada,Britain, America, Singapore, Malaysia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, New Zealandand Australia will attend the inauguration ceremony.
The spokesperson said Kartarpur is a dedicated corridor for the people fromIndia to come, pay respect and go back the same day. They cannot goanywhere else.
Dr Muhammad Faisal said that as a special gesture on the auspiciousoccasion of 550th birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak, Pakistan has waivedthe pilgrims from carrying passport for the 550th celebrations, therequirement to convey pilgrim information ten days prior to the entrythrough Kartarpur Corridor and the twenty dollar service charges perpilgrim per visit on the 9th and 12th November. He said this has beenconveyed formally to the Indian High Commission and the Indian government.
He said we hope that the corridor will provide an opportunity especially tothe Sikh community to come and observe the prayers at Baba Guru NanakSahib’s shrine.
Responding to a question, the spokesperson said the opening of theKartarpur corridor was the sole initiative of Prime Minister Imran Khanwhich was then followed by the Indian side.
The spokesperson regretted the Indian posture of not reciprocating toPakistan’s peace overtures for resolution of all outstanding disputesincluding those relating to Kashmir, water, Sir Creek and Siachen.
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Dr Muhammad Faisal said humanitarian nightmare in occupied Kashmir isworsening with continuous military lockdown and communications blockade byIndia. He said eight million Kashmiri people have been cut off from therest of the world. He asked the world community to impress upon India tohalf blatant human rights violations in occupied Kashmir and move towardsresolution of the festering dispute in accordance with the UN SecurityCouncil resolutions.
When asked about the harassment of Pakistani diplomats in Afghanistan, thespokesperson urged the Afghan government to fulfill its responsibilityregarding protection of the members of Pakistani mission. He said theembassy of Pakistan in Kabul will be processing visa applications formedical emergency during the closure of consulate service there.
When asked to comment on Yemen peace agreement brokered by Saudi Arabia,the spokesperson expressed the confidence that this will lead to reductionof tension in the region.
To a question, Dr Muhammad Faisal said dates for the visit of TurkishPresident Recep Tayyip Erdogan are being worked out. He said the visit willsoon take place.
