Manmohan: Corridor to improve Indo-Pak ties
Manmohan arrived here as part of the first batch which also included Akal Takht jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh, Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh and ex-CM Parkash Singh Badal
The opening of Kartarpur Corridor will “enormously improve” relations between India and Pakistan, former prime minister Manmohan Singh said on Saturday after he arrived here as part of the first batch of the Indian pilgrims through the cross-border passage.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, who formally inaugurated the historic corridor to facilitate the visa-free entry of Indian Sikh pilgrims, welcomed the first batch of the Indian Sikh pilgrims who entered Pakistan through the corridor which links Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan, the final resting place of Guru Nanak, to Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Punjab’s Gurdaspur.
Manmohan arrived here as part of the first batch which also included Akal Takht jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh, Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh, former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief and Ferozepur MP Sukhbir Singh Badal, Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu and BJP MP Sunny Deol.
Speaking to Pakistani reporters, the former prime minister termed the opening of the corridor as a “big moment”. The 87-year-old two-time prime minister and his wife paid obeisance at Gurdwara Darbar Sahib.
Amarinder said the Sikh community has been waiting for a free passage for 70 years, and maintained that it is a good beginning, The Nation newspaper reported.
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee members and all the 117 MLAs and MPs from Punjab, including ministers are also part of the first ‘jatha’.