Kartarpur corridor will connect people of India, Pakistan, says PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that the proposed Kartarpur corridor between India and Pakistan could connect people of the two nations. The Prime Minister was speaking at a function on the occasion of Guru Nanak Jayanti organised by Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal in the national capital.

“The incidents of 1947 should be left behind,” news agency ANI quoted PM Modi as saying.

ALSO READ | Ayodhya turns into fortress ahead of Uddhav Thackeray's visit, VHP's 'Dharma Sabha' 

PM Modi compared the Kartarpur corridor with the Berlin Wall that divided East and West Germany before it was pulled down in 1989. "Had anyone ever thought that the Berlin Wall would fall. May be with the blessings of Guru Nanak Devji, this Kartarpur corridor will not just remain a corridor, but act as a bridge between the peoples of the two countries," PM Modi said.

Former prime minister Manmohan Singh was also present on the occasion.

On Thursday, the Cabinet approved the building and development of the Kartarpur corridor from Dera Baba Nanak in Punjab’s Gurdaspur district to the International Border (IB) with Pakistan. The corridor will facilitate Sikh pilgrims from India to visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib at Kartarpur on the banks of river Ravi in Narowal District of Punjab in Pakistan. The project with all modern amenities and facilities will be implemented with the central government funding.

ALSO READ | Telangana Elections: Sonia Gandhi addresses maiden rally, accuses KCR of running 'family rule'

The decision was taken at a meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to commemorate 550th Birth Anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev. Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi also agreed to India's decision to open the Kartarpur corridor on Thursday and said that Prime Minister Imran Khan would break ground to develop a passage between Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur and the shrine on November 28.