Kartarpur ceremony in Pakistan

New Delhi: In a thawing of almost frozen bilateral ties, India on Saturday responded positively to Pakistan’s invitation for the groundbreaking ceremony of the Kartarpur corridor in Pakistan, saying two senior Sikh ministers will represent New Delhi.

Responding to an invitation from Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi for the ceremony on November 28, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said that Minister for Food Processing Industries Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Puri will represent the Modi government at the ceremony.

Qureshi had extended the invitation to Sushma Swaraj, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, and state minister and former cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu who has been calling for the opening of the Kartarpur corridor. Saturday’s development comes after India on Thursday decided to build a corridor from Gurdaspur district in Punjab to the International Border with Pakistan ahead of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak. The proposal for a corridor to Kartarpur Sahib, the place where the holy gurdwara, built on the site where Guru Nanak made his last journey in 1539, is located, has been a longstanding demand from India for two decades years. (IANS)

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