Pak for visa-free Kartarpur corridor travel

Islamabad, December 29

Pakistan has sent recommendations to India for facilitating visa-free travel of  Sikh pilgrims through the Kartarpur corridor, according to a media report here today.

Islamabad has given a 59-page document with 14 key recommendations, a TV channel reported, quoting Pakistani diplomatic officials.

The recommendations call for Indian pilgrims to be given free entry and facilitation centres and security check-posts to be set up on both sides of the border.

The pilgrims shall be allowed in groups of a minimum of 15 persons and Pakistan shall issue special permits. Both countries will compile a record of visitors, which will include names and travel records.

India shall provide a list of pilgrims to Pakistan three days in advance and it will be mandatory for all visitors to bear an Indian passport.

The recommendations say all visitors shall be required to obtain a security clearance certificate from Indian authorities. Pakistan will issue 500 permits per day and local authorities will reserve rights to admission.

On November 28, Prime Minister Imran Khan had laid the stone for the corridor on the Pakistan side that will connect Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur to Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur.

Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu and Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh laid the stone on the Indian side. Pakistan has said it will open the corridor before the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak in November 2019. — PTI

What has been proposed

• Free entry for pilgrims; facilitation centres and check-posts on both sides
• To travel in groups of minimum 15 persons on special permits
• Permits capped at 500 visitors per day
• Both countries to keep record of visitors
• India to give list three days in advance
• Visitors need security clearance from Indian authorities