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Pakistan looks at passport-free entry for Indians to Kartarpur corridor
Passport-free entry of Indian pilgrims to the Kartarpur corridor was not allowed in accordance with a memorandum of understanding signed between Pakistan and India, he said.
Pakistan was looking at allowing Indian pilgrims a passport-free entry to the Kartarpur corridor in order to allow more visitors to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, the country’s interior minister Ijaz Shah told its parliament, reports said on Saturday.
During the question hour on Friday, Shah told law makers, “As per the procedure, pilgrims can visit the corridor from dawn till dusk after producing an Indian passport or an overseas citizen of Indian-origin card along with the passport of resident country.”
He added that the movement of Indian visitors was regulated through a combination of physical and electronic security systems by the Pakistan Rangers (Punjab) along with other law-enforcement agencies. “Visitors are strictly kept inside the Gurdwara complex by using turnstile gates to avoid their exit toward the Pakistani side,” he said. “All the activities in and around the corridor are monitored through surveillance cameras.”
Passport-free entry of Indian pilgrims to the Kartarpur corridor was not allowed in accordance with a memorandum of understanding signed between Pakistan and India, he said. .
However, for the proposal to give entry without passport, detailed input might be sought from the foreign affairs ministry, he said.
In November last year, Pakistan and India separately inaugurated the historic corridor on their respective sides of the border. The corridor provides the shortest route to Indian Sikh pilgrims to the revered Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur area of Pakistan’s Narowal district, where Guru Nanak spent last 18 years of his life.
