Kartarpur corridor: Pak accepts India's proposal to hold technical meeting on Apr 16

Pakistan on Monday accepted India's proposal to hold a technical meeting with regard to Kartarpur corridor on April 16, according to Pakistani Ministry of External Affairs.

"Continuing with #Pakistan's spirit of constructive engagement, we have agreed to the Indian proposal for a technical meeting on April 16. We expect positivity from #India so that the corridor becomes reality for 550th celebrations," Mohammad Faisal, Spokesperson of Pakistan's Ministry of External Affairs tweeted on Monday.

The meeting comes after India postponed the second round of talks on corridor after reports surfaced about the appointment of "controversial elements" by Pakistan in a committee associated with the corridor.

The two countries were previously slated to meet on April 2 in Pakistan for the second round of talks.

Despite the postponement, India offered to hold a technical meeting to discuss other aspects, according to India's Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar.

Kumar had said earlier that India had sought certain clarifications from Pakistan on several "unaddressed" issues regarding the Corridor, including the number of pilgrims that can visit daily, issues of visas, etc.

The first round of talks between the two sides was held at Attari in Punjab on March 14 during which issues like finalisation of the draft agreement between the two countries were discussed.

The Pakistan government had announced a 10-member committee associated with the Kartarpur corridor, including controversial names like that of Gopal Singh Chawla, Maninder Singh, Tara Singh, Bisan Singh, and Kuljeet Singh, which India took objection to.

Government sources have said these names are involved in secessionist and anti-India activities. In fact, Gopal is linked with Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which has queered the pitch for Kartarpur dialogue.