New Delhi, March 16: India has sought to distance itself from any adverse fallout from the strong difference of opinion generated at the first India-Pakistan meeting on the Kartarpur corridor.
As the portents are ominous after India lodged “strong protests” at Thursday’s Attari meeting over Pakistani conditions for the movement of pilgrims, official sources are now seeking to build public opinion about how Islamabad is pulling out from PM Imran Khan’s assurance of an open-ended offer for the corridor.
In the Indian view, the corridor should accommodate a large number of pilgrims round-the-year with no documental restrictions whatsoever. But Pakistan offered a limit of just 700 pilgrims on the payment of a fee and issuance of travel permits with the crossover restricted to vehicles in groups of 15.
What was particularly galling to India is the offer to keep the corridor open for just two years as against the understanding of it being a permanent arrangement.
Islamabad had raised doubts about Indian intentions of going ahead with the corridor after the Balakot strikes, but sources said New Delhi decided to plough ahead in order to honour the wishes of Indian Sikhs.
