India says constructive discussions held with Pakistan on Kartarpur corridor

The first meeting to discuss the modalities for the Kartarpur Sahib corridor took place on Thursday between India and Pakistan at Attari in Amritsar district of Punjab.

Shortly after the talks, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) issued a statement calling it a positive meeting. The MEA statement said that both the countries held constructive discussions on various aspects and provisions of the proposed agreement and agreed to work towards expeditiously operationalising the Kartapur corridor. 

"The first meeting to discuss the modalities and the draft Agreement for facilitation of pilgrims to visit Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib using the Kartarpur Corridor was held today at Attari, India in a cordial environment. Both sides held detailed and constructive discussions on various aspects and provisions of the proposed agreement and agreed to work towards expeditiously operationalizing the Kartapur Sahib Corridor," said the MEA statement. 

The corridor will link Gurudwara Darbar Sahib in the Pakistani town of Kartarpur with Gurdaspur district in Punjab. In November 2018, India and Pakistan agreed to set a corridor linking Gurudwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur - the final resting place of Sikh faith's founder Guru Nanak Dev--to Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India's Gurdaspur district. Kartarpur Sahib is located in Pakistan's Narowal district across the river Ravi, about four km from the Dera Baba Nanak shrine.

Expert level discussions were also held between the technical experts on the alignment and other details of the corridor. A meeting of the technical experts will take place on March 19 at zero points to finalise the alignment. The next meeting between the two countries is scheduled to be held at Wagah in Lahore, Pakistan, on April 2.

"Both sides also held expert-level discussions between the technical experts on the alignment and other details of the proposed corridor. It was agreed to hold the next meeting at Wagah on 2 April 2019. This will be preceded by a meeting of the technical experts on 19 March 2019 at the proposed zero points to finalize the alignment," added the statement. 

The meeting comes exactly a month after the February 14 Pulwama terror attack in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed.

The Indian delegation was led by Ministry of Home Affairs Joint Secretary SCL Das and the Pakistan delegation was led by Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs DG (SA & SAARC) Mohammad Faisal.