Navjot Sidhu accepts Pak's invite for Kartarpur corridor ceremony

Punjab Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu has accepted the invitation of Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi to attend the opening ceremony of Kartarpur corridor.

In a letter to Pakistan Foreign Minister, Sidhu stated, "It is with great honour and unalloyed joy that I accept your invitation to attend the ground-breaking ceremony at Kartarpur Sahib on 28 November. I look forward to meeting you on this historic occasion."

Sidhu further said that his application seeking permission to attend the event is lodged with the Ministry of External Affairs.

In his letter, the Punjab Minister said that the opening of the Kartarpur corridor will bring peace and prosperity in both Indian and Pakistan.

"This day will indeed break ground. As our two nations take this first step, the Kartarpur spirit can make pilgrims of us all, venturing out on a journey that breaks the barriers of history and opens the borders of the heart and the mind. A journey that our people can walk together towards, a future of shared peace and prosperity for India and Pakistan," Sidhu's letter read.

On Friday, the Pakistan government decided to open the Kartarpur corridor next year on the occasion of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.

Pakistan's decision came a day after the Indian government on the eve of Guru Nanak Guru Purab, on Thursday approved the building and development of Kartarpur corridor from Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district to India-Pakistan International Border.

The Kartarpur route along the India-Pakistan border is three kilometres away from Gurdaspur, Punjab. If opened, it would allow Sikh pilgrims a direct access to the historic Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, Pakistan, where Guru Nanak died in 1539.