India-Pakistan officials to meet at Wagah for talks on Kartarpur

[Edited By: Gaurav]

Saturday, 13th July , 2019 11:38 am

Indian and Pakistani officials will meet at the Attari-Wagah border on Sunday to discuss issues, including ways to bridge gaps related to the Kartarpur Corridor that is to be made operational by November, ahead of the commemoration of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak.

The delegations will meet at Wagah in Pakistan to discuss issues of connectivity at the Zero Point, number of pilgrims and kind of travel documents to be allowed, government officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Friday.

India would also raise its concerns over the security aspect, the officials added. New Delhi had earlier conveyed to Pakistan its serious concern over the presence of a leading Khalistani separatist in a committee appointed by Islamabad for the project.

“The meeting will discuss modalities of the Kartarpur Corridor and related technical issues,” a government official said.

The project is aimed at easing access for Sikh pilgrims from India to visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur in Pakistan, the final resting place of Guru Nanak. Work on a four-lane highway on the Indian side was in full swing, the officials said. The four-lane highway connecting the Zero Point of the Kartarpur Corridor to National Highway 354 is being constructed by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

India is constructing a bridge at the Zero Point and has urged Pakistan to build a similar bridge on its side to ensure safe and secure movement of the pilgrims and address concerns regarding flooding, the officials said. The bridge is over a creek, of which the major part falls in Pakistan.

Pakistan had said it would build a mud-filled embankment, a structure that would not only lead to flooding in areas on the Indian side but also pose a threat to the structure of the bridge, the officials asserted.

The creek tends to flood during the monsoon when the Ravi river swells. Another proposal put forth by Pakistan was to build a causeway, the officials said, adding that it was unacceptable to India as it would not provide an all-weather road.

They said the construction work at the site of a passenger terminal complex at Dera Baba Nanak in India was proceeding apace. More than 250 labourers and 30 engineers were working at the site in three shifts, they added. The terminal is being built on about 15 acres of land.

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