India, Pakistan to discuss Kartarpur Corridor operationalisation on March 14

India will discuss modalities of the operationalisation of the Kartarpur Corridor with Pakistan on March 14 at the Attari-Wagah border crossing, the External Affairs Ministry (MEA) said on Wednesday.

"The first meeting between India and Pakistan to discuss and finalize the modalities for Kartarpur Corridor would be held on the Indian side of Attari-Wagah border on March 14," it said.

Th MEA said that the discussions were in keeping with the government's decision to operationalise the Kartarpur Corridor on the occasion of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev and meet the long-pending public demand for easy access to the Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan.

India has also proposed that a technical level discussion on the alignment of the corridor be held on the same day on the sidelines of this meeting.

The announcement came a day after Pakistan said it would send a delegation to India on March 14 to discuss a draft agreement for setting up of the corridor.

The announcements came amid tensions between the two countries after India's strike on a terrorist training camp of the Jaish-e-Mohammed in Pakistan last week following the Pulwama terror attack. In the subsequent aerial engagement between the two air forces, they lost a fighter jet each. Pakistan released then captured Indian pilot Abhinandan Varthaman as a "peace gesture".

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had last year laid the foundation stone of the Kartarpur corridor in Punjab's Gurdaspur district, while Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan did on the other side in Narowal district of Pakistan's Punjab province.

--IANS

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