DC-Former Indian cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu led his country’s delegation to Pakistan on Tuesday for the groundbreaking ceremony of the Kartarpur corridor to be held on November 28. The Indian delegation comprising Minister for Food Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Minister for Housing Hardeep S Puri and Sidhu reached Lahore through the Wagah Border crossing where they were received by officials of the Punjab Rangers.
Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday will perform the groundbreaking of the corridor connecting Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur area of Narowal district with Dera Baba Nanak in India's Gurdaspur District.India last week gave the go-ahead to Pakistan’s proposal to build Kartarpur corridor to facilitate Sikh pilgrims wishing to visit the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Narowal District near the Indian border.
peaking to journalists upon crossing the Wagah Border, Sidhu thanked Prime Minister Imran Khan for inviting him to the groundbreaking ceremony of the Kartarpur corridor. “The seed that Imran Khan sew three months ago has become a tree now and me and 120 million Sikhs could not be happier. I want to thank Pakistani prime minister and officials,” he said.
“Karturpur corridor will prove to be a path of peace and instead of 60 years, happiness can come in six months through it. This corridor will be the reason that borders between both the countries open,” Sidhu added.Sidhu said he has brought a message of love and peace and added, “There are numerous artistes and cricketers in both the countries which everyone loves and there need to be cricket matches between India and Pakistan.”
Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur
Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur is a gurdwara in Kartarpur, Narowal District, Punjab, Pakistan, 120 km from Lahore. It is built on the historic site where Guru Nanak settled and assembled a Sikh community after his missionary travels. The present gurdwara is built on the site where Guru Nanak died, on 22 September 1539.Indian Sikhs gather in large numbers on bluffs on the Indian side of the border to perform darshan, or sacred viewing of the site.In May 2017, the US-based NGO EcoSikh proposed establishment of a 100-acre "sacred forest" around the shrine. As the shrine lies only 3 kilometers from the border with India, Pakistan in the year 2000 agreed to allow Sikh pilgrims from India to visit the shrine visa-free by constructing a bridge from the border to the shrine
In May 2017, Indian parliamentary standing committee members announced that no such corridor would be established, given the poor state of India-Pakistan relations. Instead, the government of India may install four binoculars for viewing of the site from the Dera Baba Nanak situated close to the Indo-Pak border in Gurdaspur district of the Indian state of Punjab. In August 2018, Tourism Minister of the Government of Punjab, Navjot Singh Sidhu was invited to the oath taking ceremony of his friend from cricketing days and newly elected prime minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan. After facing criticism for receiving a hug from General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Chief of the Pakistan Army, Sidhu claimed that Bajwa had assured him of opening the corridor before the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak. The call for a visa-free Kartarpur Sahib corridor is an old, strong, persistent demand from the Sikh community. The move was mooted first during Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s bus ride to Lahore in 1999. India claims that the two-decade-old request has since been lying pending with Pakistan.
Subsequently, the Government of Pakistan in September 2018, decided to open the corridor before the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak for visa-free entry of Indian Sikhs from India to Pakistan. The step was welcomed by Sikh community across the world. After the corridor opening was confirmed by Pakistan's information minister Fawad Chaudhry, Navjot Singh Sidhu appreciated his friend Imran Khan for the gesture.
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