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.
Modi brought up the emotive issue of the gurdwara in Kartarpur Sahib, a place sacred to Sikhs as Guru Nanak Dev spent the last years of his life there, and blamed the Congress for country's partition, saying they did it for sake of power.
In view of the continued requests of the pilgrims regarding the removal of $20 service charge levied by Pakistan per pilgrim per visit, India has once again urged Pakistan to not levy any fee or charges on the pilgrims, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement.
Floodwaters from the Ravi River have inundated the Kartarpur Corridor in Pakistan, including Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, stranding over 100 people. Rescue operations are underway as thousands are evacuated from flooded areas.
The decision to open Kartarpur shrine was taken by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Saturday due to the approaching death anniversary of Sikhism founder Baba Guru Nanak Dev on September 22.
'Modi is such a Prime Minister who always thinks about Sikhs. All the pending issues of Sikhs, which have not been resolved to date, are being resolved, including the Kartarpur Sahib corridor. There should not be such protests against him, and no Sikh can tolerate this'
On Wednesday night, Sidhu's media adviser Surinder Dalla claimed that Sidhu has been officially intimated that he could go on November 20 instead of November 18.
Navjot Singh Sidhu was not part of the Channi-led 'jatha' (group) which went to pay obeisance at the gurdwara.
Modi will inaugurate the integrated check post on the Indian side, Union minister Harsimrat Badal said.
Shah said the decision reflects the Modi government's immense reverence for Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji and the Sikh community.
India has conveyed to Pakistan that the damage to the structures in the gurudwara has caused "great consternation" among the Sikh community, they said.
'Pakistan has made a business out of faith. How will a poor devotee pay this amount?'
The Indian government has sent Union ministers Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Hardeep Singh Puri to represent India at the event.
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.
"Pakistani officials told us you are Hindu, you cannot go with a Sikh jatha," said Amar Chand, who was sent back along with six of his family members after they crossed over to the neighbouring nation to participate in the birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev.
On Thursday, both countries announced that they would develop Kartarpur corridor in their respective areas, linking Dera Baba Nanak in Punjab's Gurdaspur district with the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan.
Kartarpur corridor is a 'corridor of love' and there is no sinister design in it, he said on allegations that the corridor could be used to promote separatism in Punjab.
According to the "do's and don'ts" issued by the ministry of home affairs, children below 13 years and elderly persons of about 75 years and above will have to travel in groups. Eco-friendly material, preferably cloth bags, should be used during the pilgrimage and the surroundings should be kept clean.
India signed the Kartarpur corridor agreement with Pakistan on October 24, 2019. Under the pact, Indian pilgrims of all faiths are allowed to undertake round-the-year visa-free travel through the Kartarpur corridor to Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib, one of the most revered shrines of Sikhs, in Pakistan.
Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, along with his ministers, will be part of the first 'jatha' (group), which will visit the Kartarpur Sahib on Thursday, officials said.
Both India and Pakistan have announced that stretches would be developed in their respective areas.
The construction of the Dera Baba Nanak-Kartarpur Sahib corridor across the India-Pakistan border has been likened to the fall of the Berlin Wall by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Here's why the corridor is important.
Khalistani separatist Chawla, a close aide of terrorist Hafiz Saeed, is part of the committee, which was not acceptable to India.
In a letter to Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Singh said it is a historic occasion, but regretted his inability to be present.
The Indian government has revoked 14 categories of visas for Pakistani nationals, including business, conference, visitor, and pilgrim visas, following the terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir. The decision was made after a Cabinet Committee on Security meeting, and the Home Minister has instructed state governments to ensure that all Pakistani nationals leave India by the set deadlines. The order does not apply to Long Term Visas (LTVs) and diplomatic and official visas issued to Pakistani nationals.
"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.
Gurdwara Darbar Sahib at Kartarpur in Pakistan is the final resting place of Sikhism's founder Guru Nanakji.
India slams the Pakistani prime minister for 'unwarranted reference to J&K' during pious occasion.
Faisal said Pakistan respected all religions and would continue the Kartarpur project to help Sikh pilgrims.
The visit will be followed by the return visit of the Indian delegation to Islamabad on March 28.
It is the first meeting between officials of India and Pakistan to discuss the Kartarpur corridor issue, amid heightened tensions between the two nations over the Pulwama terror attack, followed by India's pre-emptive air strike on Jaish-e-Mohammed camps in Balakot and Pakistan's subsequent retaliation.
"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..."
The meeting lasted for about two hours and a host of issues pertaining to the building of the corridor were discussed, an official said.
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.
India has strongly condemned Pakistan's recent drone attacks on Indian cities and civilian infrastructure, calling it a "deranged fantasy" and a desperate attempt to deceive the world. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri also accused Pakistan of attacking religious sites, including a gurdwara in Amritsar, in an attempt to give a communal color to the situation. Misri criticized Pakistan's "blatantly farcical denial" of the attacks and said the country is resorting to disinformation tactics.
Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan is located across the river Ravi, about four kilometres from the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Punjab's Gurdaspur district.
Project Director Atif Majid said so far 86 per cent of the work on the corridor has been completed.
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.
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.
Sidhu had attended the ground-breaking ceremony of the Kartarpur Corridor in Pakistan last year.
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