New Delhi: India and Pakistan are soon expected to sign the memorandum of agreement for the modalities to operationalise the Kartarpur corridor. The online registration of pilgrims is expected to start from October 20.
Speaking to reporters during a government-organised tour to Gurdaspur, additional secretary, ministry of home affairs and chairman Land Port Authority of India, Govind Mohan said, “We are expected to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Pakistan. From October 20, pilgrims can register at online portal”.
The transborder corridor will connect Dera Baba Nanak in India to Gurudwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur in Pakistan.
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Pakistan had sent the final draft of the MoU last week. According to Pakistani newspaper, Express Tribune, Pakistan has retained the fee of $20 from each pilgrim. However, Pakistan had also agreed that the pilgrimage would be open to pilgrims of all religions – and not just to those belonging to the Sikh faith.
Sources added in Delhi that India would accept that pilgrim fee of $20. “It is not a deal breaker,” they added. For India, the insistence of pilgrim fee would be certainly be helpful in coining a narrative that Pakistan has put the burden on poor pilgrims.
Pakistan has also reportedly allowed an Indian consular officer to be stationed at Gurudwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur, added sources.
There is, however, no clarity yet on how the signing of the agreement by officials will take place. It could either happen by a specific ceremony or through the circulation of the final document.
The formal inauguration of the Indian side of the Kartarpur corridor would take place on November 8 with Prime Minister Narendra Modi present.
Around 5,000 pilgrims would be able to travel daily through the corridor, with provision for increasing the numbers if capacity allows.
India is constructing a passenger terminal and a four-lane high way, which is scheduled to finish on October 31.
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As per a PTI report on the tour of the facilities, the slow progress on the Pakistani side was visible, as there was no work on the road and the connecting bridge. “Pakistan has deferred the construction, but it has assured that it will complete the work in good time,” Mohan said.
Pakistan would provide the transport to pick up pilgrims from zero point to their facilitation centre and then drop them back.