Kartarpur corridor stays open amid tensions

Amid escalating tensions between India and Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack, the Kartarpur corridor at Dera Baba Nanak in Punjab's Gurdaspur district remains open for pilgrims to offer prayers at the Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara in the neighbouring country.

The Kartarpur corridor links the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan, the final resting place of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev, to the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur.

Devotees on Friday continued to visit the Kartarpur corridor at Dera Baba Nanak for paying obeisance at the historic gurdwara in Pakistan.

The pilgrims sought that the Kartarpur corridor should remain open.

"The corridor should remain open for pilgrims," said a Sikh devotee from Shaheed Bhagat Singh (SBS) Nagar district.

A woman pilgrim too said the corridor should not be shut.

The pilgrims strongly condemned the dastardly terror attack in Pahalgam and said exemplary action should be taken against the perpetrators.

Twenty-six people, mostly tourists, were killed and several injured when terrorists opened fire at a meadow near the popular tourist town of Pahalgam in south Kashmir's Anantnag district on Tuesday afternoon.

The Kartarpur corridor was opened on November 9, 2019 on the occasion of Guru Nanak Dev's 550th birth anniversary.

Indian pilgrims of all faiths are allowed to undertake visa-free travel throughout the year to the historic gurdwara in Pakistan.

According to an agreement signed between India and Pakistan, a total of 5,000 pilgrims per day can cross over to the neighbouring country for paying obeisance at the gurdwara.

The Centre on Wednesday announced a raft of measures, including expulsion of Pakistani military attaches, suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 and immediate shutting down of the Attari land-transit post, in view of the cross-border links to the Pahalgam attack.

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said Pakistani nationals will not be allowed to travel to India under the SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme (SVES) and any Pakistani national currently in India under the scheme had 48 hours to leave the country.

The decisions were taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It was announced at the meeting that the integrated check-post (ICP) at Attari will be closed immediately and those who crossed over to Pakistan with valid documents may return through that route before May 1.

The Centre on Thursday announced revoking all visas issued to Pakistani nationals from April 27 and advised Indian nationals residing in Pakistan to return home at the earliest as tensions between the two neighbours escalated following the Pahalgam attack.