Pak Sikh leader lauds govt's decision to allow double entry visa to 10,000 pilgrims to Kartarpur

A Sikh leader in Pakistan has lauded the government's decision to allow double entry visa facility to 10,000 pilgrims from the community to visit the historic shrine in Kartarpur on the occasion of 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev, according to a media report.

Last week, Pakistan government has earmarked Rs 100 crore in the federal budget 2019-20 for the development of the much-awaited corridor.

Provincial Parliamentary Secretary of Punjab Sardar Mahendar Paal Singh said that Kartarpur Corridor- which was the longstanding desire of the community globally for the last seventy years, especially from India particularly in view of the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev would be observed on November 6, Dunya news reported.

The Kartarpur corridor will connect Darbar Sahib in Pakistan's Kartarpur with Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India's Gurdaspur district and facilitate visa-free movement of Indian Sikh pilgrims, who will have to just obtain a permit to visit Kartarpur Sahib, which was established in 1522 by Guru Nanak Dev.

Talking about government's recent initiatives regarding promotion of religious tourism especially visa facilitation, online visas and visas on arrival, Singh has said that this initiative would benefit tens of thousands of Sikh pilgrims every year and promote interfaith harmony, it added.

He also lauded the government's decision to allow double entry visa facility to 10,000 Sikh pilgrims to mark the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev, the report added.