Kartarpur corridor project: Third round of India-Pakistan talks on September 4

India and Pakistan are scheduled to hold a third round of formal negotiations on Kartarpur Corridor on Wednesday. Sources said that India has already responded to Pakistan’s offer to hold formal negotiations on Kartarpur Corridor’s draft and the third round of talks will be held at Wagah on the Indian side of the border.

Sources said that the focus of the meeting will be to finalise the agreement on the modalities for Kartarpur corridor and will follow a technical-level meeting to finalise the alignment of the temporary road, as agreed by Pakistan in July.

It may be recalled that the second round of talks between Indian and Pakistani officials on Kartarpur Corridor took place on July 14 and during that meeting, Islamabad had agreed to construct a bridge over the old Ravi creek that will allow all-weather pilgrimage to the Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib, throughout the year.

During the Wednesday's negotiations, the officials will also hold talks on finalising the modalities on the exchange information about using the corridor and modalities to deal with emergencies such as medical cases, during operation of the corridor. 

After the opening of Kartarpur Corridor, 5,000 Indian pilgrims will be allowed to visit Kartarpur Sahib Gurudwara, which is located in Pakistan, per day. The pilgrims will be allowed to travel as individuals or in groups and also on foot.

Islamabad has also agreed to maintain a channel of communication towards the finalisation of the agreement on the modalities of the cross-border Kartarpur Sahib corridor, assuring that "no anti-India activity would be allowed".

The corridor is set to be completed by October 31. The Kartarpur Sahib gurudwara across the Ravi river is built on the historic site where the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak Dev, spent his final days. The place is highly revered by the Sikh community.