Cabinet has approved building of Kartarpur corridor, urge Pak government to reciprocate: Rajnath Singh

Home minister Rajnath Singh said today that the Cabinet had approved the building of the Kartarpur corridor from Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district to International Border(IB) along the Pakistan border.

"The Kartarpur corridor will provide smooth and easy passage to pilgrims to visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib throughout the year," he said while urging the Pakistan government to reciprocate and develop a corridor with suitable facilities in their territory 

"Kartarpur corridor project with all modern amenities and facilities to be implemented with central government funding," Rajnath Singh said.

Last month, the Pakistan foreign office had said that Kartarpur border crossing for Sikh pilgrims will remain pending if there are no talks between India and Pakistan.

Kartarpur is situated in Narowal district of Pakistan's Punjab province, close to the India-Pakistan border. It was established by the first Sikh Guru in 1522. The first Gurdwara, Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib was built there, where Guru Nanak Dev is said to have died. Guru Nanak Dev is also said to have spent 18 years of his life there.

Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan is located across the river Ravi, about four kilometres from the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Punjab's Gurdaspur district.

Indian cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu, who had attended Imran Khan's swearing in ceremony in Islamabad in August, has said that Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa had hinted at opening of the route to Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib on the occasion of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.