With the incremental improvement in ties with Pakistan, the proposal to open the corridor from DBN to the Kiratpur Sahib gurdwara some 4 kilometres away on the Pakastani side, founded in memory of Sikhism's founder Nanak Bedi has once again been resurrected.
Just 21 then, a young air force officer looks back at the 1971 war, which was like a baptism by fire in the fauj.
In the meeting, which was held in makeshift tents at the Zero point, both the sides discussed timing of completion of bridge, alignment of roads and other engineering aspects of the proposed crossing points.
"It is a matter of disappointment that while understanding has been reached on most of the elements for facilitating the visit of pilgrims from India, Pakistan continues to insist on levying a service fee of $ 20 per pilgrim per visit," the MEA said.
India slams the Pakistani prime minister for 'unwarranted reference to J&K' during pious occasion.
Before hitting the campaign trail, Sunny Deol offered prayers at the Gurdwara Dera Baba Nanak and also had a glimpse of historic Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib in Narowal district of Pakistan through binoculars installed at the 'darshan sthal'.
Project Director Atif Majid said so far 86 per cent of the work on the corridor has been completed.
Several party hoppers including Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi, Fateh Jang Singh Bajwa and Anil Joshi were trailing from their respective constituencies in Punjab, according to poll trends.
In a letter to Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Singh said it is a historic occasion, but regretted his inability to be present.
'A narrative is needed that captures the reality in Pakistan objectively and more fully'
The government has also suspended movement of all types of passengers through international border points with Pakistan from 00:00 hours of March 16 in view of the threat from coronavirus.
The Kartarpur Corridor will connect the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India's Punjab with Darbar Sahib at Kartarpur, just 4 kilometres from the International Border, located at Narowal district of Pakistan's Punjab province.
A rocket-propelled grenade hit the Punjab police's intelligence wing headquarters in Mohali on Monday night.
Khalistani separatist Chawla, a close aide of terrorist Hafiz Saeed, is part of the committee, which was not acceptable to India.
An explosion took place at the headquarters of the intelligence wing of the Punjab police in Mohali Monday night, sources said in Chandigarh.
Whether it was the MGNREGS or the NFSA or the Aadhaar-based DBT scheme for cash transfer, the Modi government has built on the basic architecture created by the Singh government. Policy makers in the Modi government, instead of discarding them as products of the previous political regime, worked on them, expanded their scope and reach, and used new tools to improve their performance, explains A K Bhattacharya.
The ministry of external affairs said India received representations from the Sikh community expressing grave concern over the decision to transfer the management and maintenance of the gurudwara from the Pakistan Sikh Gurudwara Prabhandhak Committee to the administrative control of the Evacuee Trust Property Board, a non-Sikh body.
Sidhu had attended the ground-breaking ceremony of the Kartarpur Corridor in Pakistan last year.
Controversial Punjabi singer Sidhu Mussewala, who joined the Congress sometime ago will contest from Mansa and actor Sonu Sood's sister Malvika Sood from Moga.
Modi flagged off the first batch of pilgrims led by Akal Takhat Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib through the corridor, which was thrown open days ahead of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev on November 12.
Congress described the move as a 'betrayal' of the voters' mandate.
The corridor will connect Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur with Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district of Punjab.
Sidhu was the Congress' star campaigner and addressed over 70 public meetings in 17 days ahead of elections in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana.
Both India and Pakistan have announced that stretches would be developed in their respective areas.
Several Indian intelligence agencies and experts have questioned Pakistan's intentions of opening the route.
On his meeting with General Bajwa, the Congress leader said, "On his meeting with General Bajwa, Sidhu said, "I again want to make it clear that this meeting took place in Islamabad at a time when Gen Bajwa reached the venue of swearing-in ceremony." "He met me with enthusiasm after seeing me sitting in the first row. Immediately, he told me that they were making efforts to open the corridor from India's Dera Baba Nanak to Kartarpur Sahib, which is about 3 to 3.5 km in Pakistan, to facilitate the pilgrims to pay obeisance on the occasion of 550th 'Prakash Diwas' of Guru Nanak Dev ji."
The corridor will connect the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India's Punjab with Darbar Sahib at Kartarpur, just about 4 km from the international border, located at Narowal district of Pakistan's Punjab province.
Terming as "deliberate" the repeated ceasefire violations on the Line of Control and International Border, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley has said Pakistan and "powers within" it clearly do not want ties with India to be normal.
Amarinder Singh told mediapersons that both Kovind and Modi had accepted the Punjab government's invitation to be part of the historic celebrations and that the modalities of their visits would be chalked out after the Kartarpur Corridor opening programme was finalised with Pakistan.
Congress leader Charanjit Singh Channi was on Monday sworn in as the chief minister of Punjab, making him the first Dalit to hold the top post in the state.
"We believe in peace and we are giving a message of peace from here. But, their generals should understand that we have a large Army and we are prepared..."
Sidhu said he had been invited by the Pakistan government for the opening ceremony of the corridor, which will connect Darbar Sahib in Pakistan's Kartarpur with Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district in Punjab.
In another tweet, he congratulated his own government for completing the construction work on time.
In a strong message to Pakistan, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday asserted that Indian armed forces are fully prepared to respond to any ceasefire violation by it.
'Initiatives taken by the government and security forces had resulted in a drop in the number of local youths being radicalised and taking to insurgency over the last few months.'
Pakistan's foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi tweeted, 'Prime Minister Imran Khan will break ground at Kartarpura facilities on 28 November.'
Pakistan is scheduled to open the Kartarpur corridor for Indian Sikh pilgrims on November 9.
The corridor will connect the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India's Punjab with Darbar Sahib at Kartarpur, just 4 kilometres from the International Border, located in Narowal district of Pakistan's Punjab province.
In a letter to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Sidhu said that he had been invited by the Pakistan government for opening ceremony of Kartarpur Sahib corridor on November 9.
The Kartarpur corridor was an excellent opportunity for the Congress to seize centre-stage in Sikh religious affairs. After all, the Akalis never achieved this in their years in power, says Sanjeev Nayyar.