Pak, India to sign Kartarpur Corridor agreement on Oct 24

The agreement was scheduled to be signed on October 23, but could not take place. There was an agreement between New Delhi and Islamabad on all other issues except the matter of service fee to be charged from Indian pilgrims.

Islamabad: Pakistan and India will sign the Kartarpur Corridor agreement on October 24, foreign office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal said during the weekly press conference on Wednesday.

"Hopefully the agreement on Kartarpur corridor will be signed tomorrow," Faisal said.

Earlier, the agreement was scheduled to be signed on Tuesday, but could not take place.

India had earlier said that there was an agreement between New Delhi and Islamabad on all other issues except the matter of service fee to be charged from Indian pilgrims.

From the beginning, Pakistan has been insisting on levying a fee of USD 20 each pilgrim visiting Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara through the corridor.

However, the Indian side has urged the Islamic nation to not charge the proposed fee.

The corridor will facilitate the visa-free movement of Indian pilgrims who will have to just obtain a permit to visit Kartarpur Sahib which was established in 1522 by Sikh faith founder Guru Nanak Dev.

The corridor will also be the first visa-free corridor between the two neighbors. India and Pakistan have held a series of high-level talks for the operationalization of the corridor ahead of the 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev.

From the Indian side, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the corridor.

Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said Prime Minister Imran Khan will inaugurate the project on November 9, three days before the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.