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.
India has conveyed to Pakistan that the damage to the structures in the gurudwara has caused "great consternation" among the Sikh community, they said.
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.
'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'
Both India and Pakistan have announced that stretches would be developed in their respective areas.
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.
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.
Khalistani separatist Chawla, a close aide of terrorist Hafiz Saeed, is part of the committee, which was not acceptable to India.
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.
"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.
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.
A Foreign Office official told PTI that the eight-member Indian delegation arrived in Lahore at 9.15 am (local time).
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.
The visit will be followed by the return visit of the Indian delegation to Islamabad on March 28.
Sidhu had attended the ground-breaking ceremony of the Kartarpur Corridor in Pakistan last year.
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.
Reacting cautiously, MEA said an agreement has been signed between the two countries finalising the modalities for visits and India will stick to it.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted a number of prominent Sikhs at his residence on Friday and highlighted the works done by his government for the community.
But COVID struck and then his health deteriorated as he underwent a heart surgery which was followed by a brain surgery last year.
"Let me explain to you that we were not trapped by your 'googlies'. Our two Sikh Ministers went to Kartarpur Sahib to offer prayers in the Holy Gurudwara", she said.
Alam sighed when he heard about Bedi's death before gathering his breath to pay tribute to one of the greatest spinners of all time.
Empowerment of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) with extra territorial jurisdiction and declaration of Maulana Masood Azhar, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and Dawood Ibrahim as terrorists after legislative amendment were counted among its achievements by the MHA, headed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
In the agreement, Pakistan government has also said that information of pilgrims and security clearance by the Indian side will be needed three days prior.
The high commission of India in Dhaka and the assistant high commissions in Chittagong, Rajshahi, Sylhet and Khulna have been assisting in the voluntary return of Indian nationals, he said.
Amid rising coronavirus cases in India, the government has asked people not to panic, saying no community transmission of the virus has been observed and there has only been a few cases of local transmission so far and that it is "not a health emergency" in India at present.
The protest came a day after the two countries agreed to develop a corridor on their respective side of the border to link a historic Sikh shrine in Kartarpur in Pakistan.
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