After Prime Minister Imran Khan invited Congress leader and former cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu to attend the inauguration ceremony of the Kartarpur Corridor on November 9, MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar stated on Thursday that Sidhu will have to seek political clearance from India to visit Kartarpur.
Raveesh Kumar also said that other political leaders who are invited by the Pakistan government will have to seek political clearance in order to visit the Kartarpur Gurdwara in Pakistan.
"I think the political personalities or invitees who think they need to get a political clearance and those not included in the list will know about it. There won't be surprises. My understanding is that the normal rules for seeking political clearance for such visits will apply," Zee quoted the MEA spokesperson as saying.
Senator Faisal Javed Khan had a telephonic conversation with Navjot Singh Sidhu on the direction of Imran Khan and invited the Congress MLA to Pakistan for the Kartarpur Corridor inauguration ceremony on November 9. According to sources, Sidhu has accepted the invitation.
Earlier on Tuesday, those who will be visiting the Gurudwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan through the Kartarpur corridor was finalised. India shared the list of 575 pilgrims, which includes several prominent leaders including former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Union Ministers Hardeep Puri, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and other MPs and MLAs of Punjab. A Congress delegation will also be visiting, consisting of leaders like Jyotiraditya Scindia and Randeep Surjewala.
India and Pakistan had on October 24 signed the agreement connecting Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Punjab's Gurdaspur with Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur in Pakistan. With the signing of this agreement, a formal framework was laid down for operationalisation of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor.
While Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Indian side of the corridor on November 8, Pakistan will officially open the corridor from its side a day after, ahead of the 550th Birthday celebrations of Baba Guru Nanak which starts on November 11.
The corridor connects the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Punjab's Gurdaspur with Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur in Pakistan.
Both sides had agreed last year to open the corridor to the Kartarpur Gurudwara located in Pakistan, just a few kilometres from the International border, on the occasion of the 550th Birth Anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.
Kartarpur Gurudwara has a huge significance in Sikhism since Guru Nanak Dev Ji spent the last 18 years of his life in the area where the Gurudwara stands now.
