Amritsar, November 23: The SGPC has offered to construct the corridor leading to Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan.
Hailing the move of the Union Government to approve the project in the wake of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev, SGPC president Gobind Singh Longowal on Thursday said the Centre had done its part and he expected the Pakistan authorities to reciprocate in a positive manner to make the move practical officially.
The 3-km corridor is supposed to be built from Dera Baba Nanak, Gurdaspur, up to the zero line between India and Pakistan border, whereas approximately 1.5-km passage is to be built by Pakistan from its side to have a hassle-free access to Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib, located 25 km east of Narowal on the west bank of the Ravi.
“If the Centre allows, I will be fortunate enough to lead a delegation to Pakistan to have a dialogue with the authorities there in this regard,” he said.
Ironically, the SGPC had a “hitch” to acknowledge the contribution of Cabinet minister Navjot Singh Sidhu in fructifying this project.
Amidst his controversial hug with Pakistan army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa in August, Sidhu had claimed that the former had raised the issue of opening of the Kartarpur corridor. Longowal said, “Had there been any authenticity about the so-called claim of Sidhu, it would have been officially declared in the Vidhan Sabha, like the way it was done in the Union Cabinet. I do not believe it to be true.”
Source Tribune India
