Foundation stone laid for Kartarpur Sahib corridor in Gurdaspur

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu laid foundation stone for construction of Kartarpur Sahib corridor on Indian side at Mann village in Gurdaspur district, Punjab. The corridor will provide visa free passage to Indian Sikh pilgrims to visit holy site of Gurudwara Darbar Sahib at Kartarpur in Pakistan.

Gurudwara Darbar Sahib
It is 16th century Gurdwara located on the banks of the river Ravi in Shakargarh in Narowal district of Punjab province of Pakistan. It is located about 3 to 4km from Indo-Pak border in Pakistan in Punjab. This gurudwara was established by the first Sikh Guru in 1522. It is important for Sikhs as Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of Sikhism and its first guru had assembled Sikh community and lived for 18 years until his death in 1539.

Kartarpur Corridor

It will road link that will connect India’s border district of Gurdaspur with historic Gurudwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan. It purpose to let Sikh pilgrims visit holy shrine without visa and to help them walk across and come back without having to secure visa.
Indian side of corridor will start from Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district and extends upto International border between India and Pakistan. The corridor will be developed by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and will be funded by the Union Government.
The project corridor is 4 lanes with service road and will encompass all other appropriate amenities needed by pilgrims while visiting the Gurudwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan. It will help to boost tourism and people to people contact between both countries as more pilgrims will visit holy shrine throughout the year between two countries.

Background

India had first proposed Kartarpur Sahib corridor in 1999 when then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee took bus ride to Lahore. Recently this year Pakistan had decided to revive this proposal and built corridor on side. Union Government had decided to build this corridor upto international border between India and Pakistan as integrated development project to mark 550th birth anniversary of the Guru Nanak Dev Ji in 2019.

Month: Current Affairs - November, 2018