India to develop Kartarpur Corridor till Pak border: Govt informs Lok Sabha

Don't want to miss the best from Business Standard?

India will develop 4 km stretch of Kartarpur Sahib Corridor from Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district of Punjab to International Border with Pakistan, Parliament was informed Thursday.

The much-awaited corridor will connect Darbar Sahib in Pakistan's Kartarpur - the final resting place of first Sikh guru Guru Nanak Dev - with Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India.

"The government of India has decided to develop the corridor from Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district up to the International Border (with Pakistan)," Minister of State for Highways Mansukh L Mandaviya said in a written reply to Lok Sabha.

He was replying to a question whether the National Highways Authority of India has developed or plans to develop any project on the corridor.

"Approximate length of the road project is about 4 km," he said.

Work on determination of the alignment of road has been initiated, he added.

On November 26, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh laid the foundation stone for the corridor.

The decision to build the passage was taken by the Union Cabinet on November 22.

Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of Sikhism, had spent more than 18 years of his life in Kartarpur.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan laid the foundation stone for the corridor in Pakistan on November 28.

The corridor will facilitate visa-free movement of Indian Sikh pilgrims.