ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi said on Sunday that it has issued more than 3,000 visas to Indian pilgrims to facilitate their participation in the birthday celebrations of Sikhism founder Baba Guru Nanak.
The Baba Guru Nanak birthday celebrations will take place in Pakistan from November 14 to 23, 2024, state-run Radio Pakistan reported.
Last month, Pakistan renewed its agreement for another five years, allowing Indian pilgrims to continue visiting the Gurudwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur, the final resting place of Guru Nanak, through the visa-free corridor.
The corridor was inaugurated in November 2019 ahead of Nanak’s 550th birth anniversary.
The Kartarpur Corridor connects the Indian town of Dera Baba Nanak with Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, located in Pakistan’s Punjab province. It has long been seen as a significant gesture of goodwill, providing Sikhs in India with easier access to one of their holiest sites, which lies on the Pakistani side of the border.
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The Pakistan High Commission’s official statement on social media platform X highlighted that over 3,000 visas had been issued to Indian pilgrims for this year’s celebrations.
Pakistan’s Charge d’Affaires to India, Saad Ahmad Warraich, also extended his warm wishes to the Sikh community, wishing them a “fulfilling yatra” (pilgrimage).
The Kartarpur Corridor, which connects Sikhs in both countries to their spiritual heritage, has been hailed as a significant step in promoting peace and people-to-people contact between India and Pakistan.
The initiative has earned international praise, including from UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who referred to it as a “Corridor of Hope.”
The opening of the corridor has been widely regarded as a symbol of diplomatic cooperation and religious harmony.
