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India, Pakistan at odds over Kartarpur meet venue
Apparent differences between India and Pakistan on the venue of a meeting to discuss modalities for the Kartarpur corridor emerged Tuesday, with India suggesting the discussions be held in New Delhi.
Apparent differences between India and Pakistan on the venue of a meeting to discuss modalities for the Kartarpur corridor emerged Tuesday, with India suggesting the discussions be held in New Delhi.
The move came a day after Pakistan proposed dates for the meeting to be held in Islamabad, people familiar with developments said. India proposed two dates — February 26 and March 7 — for a Pakistani delegation to visit New Delhi to “discuss and finalise the modalities” so that Indian pilgrims can visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib at Kartarpur “using the corridor at the earliest”, said an external affairs ministry statement.
India also shared with Pakistan the coordinates of the crossing point along the international border for the planned corridor.
The sharing of the “coordinates of the zero point (crossing point) of the corridor” was in line with the Centre’s decision last year to “expeditiously realise the long-pending proposal to establish the Kartarpur corridor”, the statement added.
On Monday, Pakistan had shared with India a draft agreement on modalities for the Kartarpur corridor. At the same time, Pakistan had invited India to “urgently send a delegation to Islamabad to negotiate and finalise the agreement”.
The Pakistan government has appointed the director general (South Asia and Saarc) in the foreign ministry as its focal person and requested the Indian government to designate its focal person.
Last November, India and Pakistan unveiled plans to build the corridor to facilitate visits by Indian pilgrims to the gurdwara at the site where Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, died in 1539.
Both sides have said they plan to open the corridor on the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak in November 2019.
India has delinked the corridor from the larger issue of a dialogue with Pakistan, saying such talks cannot begin till Islamabad acts on New Delhi’s concerns about terrorism.
