Pakistan creating mirage of goodwill: India on Kartarpur opening proposal

Senior journalist Smita Sharma here explains why Pakistan's proposal to open the corridor for Kartarpur Gurudwara from Monday is just “a mirage of goodwill”. The Corridor was temporarily closed on 16 March this year, following the Covid-19 outbreak. However, after months of lockdown, several religious places across the globe are slowly opening up.

New Delhi: India has indicated its clear unwillingness to give the green signal to the reopening of the Kartarpur Corridor as countries struggle to deal with the pandemic, after Pakistan conveyed its readiness to reopen the historic corridor for Sikh pilgrims on 29 June 2020 on the occasion of the death anniversary of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh.

“As places of worship open up across the world, Pakistan prepares to reopen the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor for all Sikh pilgrims, conveying to the Indian side our readiness to reopen the corridor on 29 June 2020, the occasion of the death anniversary of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh,” Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi tweeted earlier today.

However, India has said Pakistan is only trying to give a false impression of goodwill.

• As places of worship open up across the world, Pakistan prepares to reopen the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor for all Sikh pilgrims, conveying to the Indian side our readiness to reopen the corridor on 29 June 2020, the occasion of the death anniversary of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh.

  — Shah Mahmood Qureshi (@SMQureshiPTI) June 27, 2020 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="

  As places of worship open up across the world, Pakistan prepares to reopen the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor for all Sikh pilgrims, conveying to the Indian side our readiness to reopen the corridor on 29 June 2020, the occasion of the death anniversary of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh.

  — Shah Mahmood Qureshi (@SMQureshiPTI) June 27, 2020

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  As places of worship open up across the world, Pakistan prepares to reopen the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor for all Sikh pilgrims, conveying to the Indian side our readiness to reopen the corridor on 29 June 2020, the occasion of the death anniversary of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh.

  — Shah Mahmood Qureshi (@SMQureshiPTI) June 27, 2020

“It is to be noted that Pakistan is trying to create a mirage of goodwill by proposing to resume Kartarpur corridor on 29 June, at the short notice of 2 days, while bilateral agreement provides for information to be shared by India with Pakistan side at least 7 days before the date of travel. This would need India to open up the registration process well in advance,” said an Indian official.

The Kartarpur Corridor was inaugurated on 9th November 2019 by Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan amid fanfare. The Corridor was finally opened up on the eve of the 550th birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak fulfilling the long pending desire of Sikh devotees in India and the world.

The corridor was temporarily closed on 16 March this year following the Covid-19 outbreak. However, after months of lockdown, several religious places across the globe are slowly opening up.

“To ensure adherence to the health guidelines, Pakistan has invited India to work out necessary SOPs for reopening of the Corridor,” said the Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesperson.

However, coronavirus cases continue to rise sharply across both India and Pakistan overwhelming hospitals and medical infrastructure. Pakistan today has one of the fastest Covid-19 spike rates across the world with almost 150 daily deaths.

"Cross border travel has been temporarily suspended as part of measures to prevent and contain the spread of coronavirus. Further view would be taken in consultation with health authorities and other stakeholders concerned,” said Indian government sources in response.

Islamabad’s proposal comes just days after the Ministry of External Affairs summoned the Pakistani CDA Syed Haider Shah Ali and asked the mission here to reduce its staff by 50 percent within seven days. India said it would reciprocate too as relations between the two countries continue to worsen over allegations of abduction, intimidation, tailing, and harassment of diplomats and officials posted in each other’s respective missions in New Delhi and Islamabad.

“Besides, Pakistan has not built the bridge on their side across the flood plains of the Ravi river despite having committed to it in the bilateral agreement. With the advent of monsoon, it would need to be evaluated whether pilgrim movement is possible throughout the corridor safely and securely,” Indian officials have added.

The nearly four kilometres long historic corridor connects Kartarpur Sahib- where first Guru of Sikhism Guru Nanak Dev spent 18 years of his life- to Dera Baba Nanak Dev in Gurdaspur on the Indian side.