Opening Kartarpur corridor

The eve of the start of year-long celebrations to mark Guru Nanak’s 550th birth anniversary started on a fortuitous note for Indo-Pak ties. In India, the Union Cabinet decided to do up the road that leads to the international border (IB) on the way to Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib where Guru Nanak spent 18 years. Pakistan, a day earlier, announced that PM Imran Khan will perform the ground-breaking ceremony for the corridor on the Pakistan side. Since it is a short hop to Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib from the IB, it is a commentary on the state of Indo-Pak ties that the proposal for easy passage for Indian Sikh pilgrims has been hanging fire since Benazir Bhutto first proposed a visa-free corridor in 1996.

Yet the clouds have not lifted. The taste of the pudding is in operationalising the corridor. The tough words being spoken instead of cultivated graciousness that such occasions demand indicate a period of hard bargaining ahead. India has taken a maximalist approach by seeking no restriction on pilgrims and demanding the corridor be kept open not just on special occasions but 365 days. The tandem announcement by both countries on beautifying the corridor shows that though overt diplomatic contact is minimal, back channels are active. They need to ensure that the details that are to be negotiated for a spiritual journey do not become a victim to hawkish stance on matters of state.   

In inter-state relations, reciprocity defines the success of most initiatives. India is yet to give such indications. It refuted suggestions that the corridor is being planned as a response to a Pakistani proposal though it is obvious that Islamabad’s preferences will dictate the fate of the corridor. This requires India to reciprocate with a matching gesture that promotes people-to-people contacts, say in medical tourism. Indian political leaders of every strain were quick to take political ownership of the initiative. They must similarly sink political differences to take the corridor to fruition by taking provocations such as Referendum 2020 in their stride.