Pakistan to give visas to 10,000 Indian pilgrims for Guru Nanak’s birth anniversary celebrations

It was decided at the meeting to give visas to 10,000 Indian pilgrims for the Guru’s birth anniversary celebrations, though there is a provision to issue 3,000 visas under the bilateral agreement, said a member of the ETPB.

The Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC) and Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) on Tuesday reiterated that they will make all arrangements for the “sangat” (devotees) coming to Pakistan for 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak, and the Kartarpur corridor will be completed before November.

Sikh devotees wave as they leave in a bus for Pakistan via Attari-Wagah border, to take part in a religious procession to celebrate the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev Ji at Gurdwara Nankana Sahib, in Amritsar, July 30, 2019. (PTI File)

Office-bearers of both the bodies led by PSGPC president Satwant Singh and ETPB chairman Amir Ahmed held a meeting in Lahore to review the progress of the preparations for the upcoming mega event.

It was decided at the meeting to give visas to 10,000 Indian pilgrims for the Guru’s birth anniversary celebrations, though there is a provision to issue 3,000 visas under the bilateral agreement, said a member of the ETPB.

An office-bearer of the ETPB, a statutory board that manages religious properties and shrines of Hindus and Sikhs who had migrated to India after Partition, said over phone that they will ensure the corridor, which is being constructed to give Indian devotees a visa-free access to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, the final resting place of Guru Nanak, is completed well before November this year.