Indian envoy visits Kartarpur border amid reports that Pak may open it for Sikhs

Indian High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria today visited Kartarpur border amid reports that Pakistan may open it for Indian Sikh pilgrims so that they can visit the historic Gurdwara Darbar Sahib during the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.

Bisaria also visited the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur in Narowal, some 120-km from Lahore, where he was received by an official of the Pakistan Gurdwara Parbhandik Committee.

There are reports that Pakistan and India may soon hold talks on temporarily opening Kartarpur border for Sikh pilgrims.

Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan is located across the river Ravi, about four kilometres from the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Punjab's Gurdaspur district.

The 550th birth anniversary of the first Sikh Guru, who breathed his last in Kartarpur, is being observed in November 2019.

During cricketer-turned politician Navjot Singh Sidhu's visit to Pakistan to attend the swearing-in ceremony of his friend Prime Minister Imran Khan, Pakistan Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa had hinted at temporary opening of Kartarpur border on the occasion of Guru Nanak's birth anniversary.

In India, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has urged the Centre to seek access for Sikh pilgrims to the Kartarpur Sahib shrine in Pakistan.

He has suggested that a Dera Baba Nanak-Kartarpur Sahib corridor across the international border can be opened for the duration of the celebrations.