India, Pakistan to hold technical talks on Kartarpur Corridor

While India and Pakistan would have a technical talks today on Kartarpur Corridor, India has already started construction work on the integrated check post (ICP) at Dera Baba Nanak as part of the proposed corridor which will give access to Sikh pilgrims from the country to visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib at Kartarpur in neighbouring Pakistan.

Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesperson Dr Muhammad Faisal had announced the meeting between technical experts of the two countries, following a meeting between Pakistan and Indian delegations in Attari on March 14. Addressing a press conference after the meeting, Dr Faisal had said that both sides held detailed and constructive discussions on various aspects and provisions of the proposed agreement and agreed to work towards expeditiously operationalising the Kartarpur corridor.

The next meeting between the two sides will be held on April 2 at Wagah.

While for integrated check post, a team of the Land Port Authority of India (LPAI) led by Attari integrated check post manager Sukhdev Singh and Dera Baba Nanak sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Gursimran Singh Dhillon, who is also the competent authority to acquire farmland for the corridor, visited the site yesterday.

“On Tuesday, technical teams from India and Pakistan will visit the zero line at the border to draft the modalities for the construction of the corridor. The ICP will have adequate immigration and customs clearance facilities to process the smooth movement of nearly 5,000 pilgrims per day,” Singh told the Hindustan Times.

LPAI officials said the corridor ICP will have a unique design in line with other check posts in the country.