Kartarpur Corridor: India counters Pakistan claim, says yet to receive draft

Pakistan on Monday issued a press release saying it has shared the draft agreement on Kartarpur Corridor with India.

Pic Courtesy: Twitter/DrMFaisal

New Delhi: Hours after Pakistan said that it had sent a draft on Kartarpur corridor to New Delhi, India said that it was yet to receive a draft. Pakistan on Monday issued a press release saying it has shared the draft agreement between "government of Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the government of the Republic of India" on Kartarpur with the government of India through the Indian High Commission in Islamabad.

Pakistan further said that it had appointed Director-General (South Asia & SAARC) at Pakistan foreign ministry, Mohammad Faisal, as the point person on their side on Kartarpur corridor and requested India to also " designate a focal person at its end."

The release added that the "Government of Pakistan also invited Government of India" to "urgently" send a "delegation to Islamabad to negotiate and finalise the Agreement".

The Pakistani foreign office spokesperson also tweeted a picture of Kartarpur corridor, showing construction on its side.

Keeping promises - Work in progress on #kartarpurcorridor on #Pakistan side (1/2) pic.twitter.com/GySTjWmDWd — Dr Mohammad Faisal (@DrMFaisal) January 21, 2019

Last Thursday during Pakistan's foreign office weekly briefing, their spokesperson said they had not received any invite for Indo-Pak talks on Kartarpur from India.

The development comes even as a high-level meeting happened at the Home Ministry a few days ago to discuss the modalities on Kartarpur corridor, which was chaired by Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba and attended by Punjab Chief Secretary, Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria, DG BSF RK Mishra and officials from the Road and Transport Ministry.

India had on November 22 approved the building of Kartarpur Corridor on the Indian side from Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district till the border. The announcement came ahead of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev Ji to be celebrated this year. Pakistan later announced that it would also build a corridor on its side of the border from the holy Gurudwara till the border.

Vice President Venkaiah Naidu laid the foundation stone for the corridor on the Indian side on November 26, 2018 while Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan laid the foundation stone on November 28 on its side of the border. India was represented by two Union ministers-- Union Minister of Food Processing Industries Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Minister of State (IC) for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri at the ceremony in Pakistan.