Kartarpur Corridor: 'Constrained' India Accepts Pak's $20 Fee Proposal; Agreement To Be Signed On Wednesday
After talking to an "adamant" Pakistan for weeks, India on Monday said it is "constrained" to accept US $20 service fee proposed by Islamabad for using Kartarpur corridor. The Kartarpur agreement will by signed both sides on Wednesday at the zero point near Dera Baba Nanak.
The corridor connects the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Punjab's Gurdaspur with Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur in Pakistan. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Indian side of the corridor on November 8, Pakistan will officially open the corridor from its side a day after, ahead of the 550th Birthday celebrations of Baba Guru Nanak which starts on November 11.
Ahead of the signing, the Ministry of External Affairs on Monday said, "While agreeing to sign the Agreement, the Government of Pakistan has been once again urged to reconsider its insistence to levy service fee on pilgrims. India would be ready to amend the Agreement accordingly at any time."
Expressing "disappointment", New Delhi said, "Government has consistently urged Pakistan that in deference to the wishes of the pilgrims, it should not levy such a fee."
This is the second time in a week that India has asked Pakistan to drop its US $20 fee proposal as it is people to people project but Pakistan has been "rigid and inflexible in its unreasonable demand". Even after more than a month when the proposal was first handed, it has refused to budge. Islamabad says it is charging $20 to cover the operational cost of the corridor.
No visa will be required by pilgrims, but they will have to carry the passport.
Meanwhile, India and Pakistan exchanged mock data of pilgrims ahead of the opening of the corridor which happened at 2 pm IST at the zero point.
Both sides had agreed last year to open the corridor to the Kartarpur corridor located in Pakistan, just a few kilometres from the International border, on the occasion of the 550th Birth Anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.
Kartarpur Gurudwara has huge significance in Sikhism since Guru Nanak Dev Ji spent the last 18 years of his life in the area where the Gurudwara stands now.
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