New Delhi:Despite India's continuous insistence, Pakistan continues to levy charges of USD 20 per visit on the pilgrims visiting Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur, the government said in Lok Sabha on Friday.
The information came in as a written response from Minister of State External Affairs V Muraleedharan while replying to a question from SAD MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal asking if the government had any plans to make the visit to Kartarpur Sahib passport-free for Sikh pilgrims who wanted to visit the holy site from across the globe.
To this, MoS replied that "The Agreement, inter alia, provides for visa-free travel of Indian pilgrims as well as Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholders, from India to the holy Gurudwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur in Pakistan on a daily basis, throughout the year. To facilitate the visit of pilgrims, a state-of-the-art infrastructure, including a highway from the town of Dera Baba Nanak to Zero Point and an Integrated Check Post (ICP) have been built on the Indian side."
"Representations have been received to make the visit to Gurudwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur through Sri Kartarpur Sahib Corridor passport-free. However, the Bilateral Agreement signed between India and Pakistan on 24 October 2019 mandates that pilgrims shall travel on valid passport", it further said.
On India's continuous insistence to Pakistan that they should not levy any fee or charge on the pilgrims who visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur through Sri Kartarpur Sahib Corridor, MoS in his reply pointed out that "The Government of India has consistently urged the Government of Pakistan that in deference to the wishes of the pilgrims, it should not levy any fee or charge on the pilgrims who visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur through Sri Kartarpur Sahib Corridor. Pakistan, however, continues to levy USD 20 on every pilgrim for each visit."
Since its inauguration on November 9, 2019, Sri Kartarpur Sahib Corridor has been used by around 1,70,000 pilgrims to visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur. Sri Kartarpur Sahib Corridor remains functional on all seven days of the week.
