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Hindustan Times
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Kartarpur Corridor shut from India's side indefinitely, Pak keeps doors open
Following escalating border tensions between India and Pakistan after the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, India has closed its side of the Kartarpur Corridor — the only active surface-level link between the two countries — indefinitely. The Union ministry of home affairs' bureau of immigration announced the closure of the corridor 'till further orders'. The closure has halted the pilgrimage of Indian Sikh devotees to the historic Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, Narowal district, Pakistan, while Pakistan continues to keep the corridor open on its side. On Wednesday morning, around 150 Sikh pilgrims who had arrived at the Dera Baba Nanak integrated check post in Gurdaspur district were turned back after waiting for over 90 minutes. In contrast, Pakistan has maintained that the Kartarpur Corridor remains open on its end. Ramesh Singh Arora, president of the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC) and a former MLA, appointed as ambassador for the corridor, said, 'The corridor is open from our side. It is a conscious decision of our government to continue welcoming the pilgrims.' He added that the corridor was a symbol of peace, brotherhood and harmony propagated by Guru Nanak Dev. 'On Tuesday, we received about 200 pilgrims from India and suddenly, the next day, the arrival was zero. When we checked, we were told that India had stopped pilgrims from going to Kartarpur Corridor. Despite the corridor's close down from India's side, the Pakistan government has decided to keep it open as a goodwill gesture,' Arora told HT over WhatsApp. He added that PSGPC had also started the process for facilitating pilgrimage visas to Indian pilgrims for June to mark the martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev. The corridor, inaugurated jointly by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on November 9, 2019, fulfilled a long-standing demand of the Sikh community to access one of their holiest shrines without a visa. Under the bilateral agreement, Indian devotees have visa-free, dawn-to-dusk access to the shrine, which has turned out be a meeting point of people from Indian and Pakistan Punjabs, divided since the Partition of 1947. The 4.7-km passage connects Dera Baba Nanak Sahib in India's Gurdaspur and Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan's Kartarpur, believed to be the final resting place of Guru Nanak Dev. Despite its brief closure during the Covid-19 pandemic after just four months of inauguration, the corridor was reopened on November 17, 2021, and both countries renewed the agreement for another five years in 2024.
Indian Express
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
50 Pakistan nationals with NORI visa allowed to cross over to India
A total of 50 Pakistani nationals, who hold the NORI (No Obligation to Return to India) visa, crossed over to India through the Integrated Check Post (ICP) at the Attari border on Monday. Until recently, Pakistan authorities were not permitting NORI visa holders to travel to India, citing their Pakistani passports. However, following discussions, an exception has been made, officials said. In total, 240 people from Pakistan, including the 50 NORI visa holders, entered India. Meanwhile, 140 others from India returned to Pakistan via Attari. A NORI visa is issued by India to Pakistani and Bangladeshi nationals who have close relatives holding Indian citizenship. They include men and women who are married to Indian nationals. While revoking all visas issued to the nationals of the neighbouring country following the Pahalgam terror attack, in which 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed on April 22, India had made an exemption for NORI visa holders, allowing them to cross over to Pakistan. There, however, was no clarity on the issue from Pakistan side. Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (PSGPC) president Ramesh Singh Arora, who is also a Member of the Provincial Assembly of Punjab, said he raised the issue with the Pakistan government. Speaking to The Indian Express, Arora said, 'I was approached by three Sikh families whose members holding NORI visas wanted to return to India.' The recent suspension of normal cross-border movement had caused disruptions for families with members holding different nationalities. Several families, where one spouse holds an Indian passport and the other a Pakistani passport, have suddenly been separated. Officials said the current easing of rules for NORI visa holders is a step toward addressing the hardship faced by such families.
