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Don’t back out of Kartarpur corridor project: Capt Amarinder Singh to Pakistan
The chief minister’s statement came in the backdrop of reports that India was forced to send a reminder to Islamabad to hold meetings to finalise key Kartarpur decisions.
Expressing concern over reports of “discernible slowdown” in Pakistan’s activities for the Kartarpur corridor development, Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Sunday urged the neighbouring country not to back out from its commitment on the vital project, which was of supreme religious importance to the Sikh community.
The chief minister’s statement came in the backdrop of reports that India was forced to send a reminder to Islamabad to hold meetings to finalise key Kartarpur decisions.
With the momentous 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak just three months away, any slowdown in the project would lead to non-completion of the corridor in time, said the CM, adding such a move would serve a big blow to the desires and aspirations of the Sikh community, who are eager for the “darshan” of the holy place where the their first Guru spent last years of his life.
On severing of trade ties by Pakistan through the Attari-Wagah border, Amarinder said the move would inflict heavy economic losses on the poor in Pakistan. The suspension of trade would lead to the loss of jobs and livelihood for thousands of porters, truck/train drivers and the staff deployed as part of the trade infrastructure on both sides of the border, he added.
Amarinder termed the decision with regard to the trade ties “incomprehensible” on the pretext of some action taken by India with respect to a purely internal matter. He urged Islamabad to revoke the trade suspension in the interest of people on both sides of the border.
India, he said, wanted peace, communal harmony and development on the Indo-Pak border, people on both sides of which had suffered immensely due to the continued violence and hostilities.
Reiterating that Kashmir was an internal matter of India, the CM said Pakistan should not link it with diplomatic or trade ties between the two nations.
The CM called upon the Union government to also open diplomatic channels to press Pakistan to resume trade ties. He also urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to announce a special economic package for the development of the border states of Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir to create better job opportunities for their youth. The Centre, he stressed, should also raise additional battalions in the army, paramilitary forces and the state police for all border states.
Blurb: Seeks resumption of trade ties with the neighbouring country through Attari-Wagah border in mutual interest
