More than 1000 Sikh pilgrims from India arrived at Gurdwara Punja Sahib in Pakistan’s Hassanabdal on Sunday as a part of the ‘Nagar Kirtan’, a religious procession, held to mark the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.

Imran Gondal Deputy Secretary Evacuee Trust Proprty Board (ETPB) said that more than 1100 Sikhs crossed the border through Wagah on October 31 via Ludhiana and Amritsar, Pakistani newspaper Dawn reported.

“Around 1300 visas issued for the Nagar Kirtan are over and above the contingent covered under the Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines 1974 between Pakistan and India,” Gondal was quoted as saying.

Gondal said the board, in collaboration with the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbhand Committee and the district administration, has made security and accommodation arrangements for Indian and local Sikh pilgrims.

The Indian Sikh pilgrims that visited Gurdwara Janamasthan, Nankana Sahib, Gurdwara Sacha Sodda Farooqabad and other shrines in Pakistan. The pilgrimage’s visit will conclude at Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, where a gold palanquin ‘Palki Sahin’ will be installed.

While speaking to the media in Pakistan, a number of pilgrims praised the initiative to open the Kartarpur Corridor to facilitate the Sikh community. They also lauded Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan for laying the foundation stone for the Baba Guru Nanak University in Nankana Sahib and issuing a commemorative coin on the occasion of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.

The Kartarpur Corridor, that will connect Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Punjab with Darbar Sahib at Kartarpur Pakistan, just four kilometres away from the international border, will open on November 9.

Former president of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, Sardar Paramjit Singh Sarna, praised the opening of the Kartarpur Corridor. He said, “It was a longstanding desire of the Sikh community to be able to visit one of their holiest sites in Pakistan, visa-free. He further thanked the government for constructing the Kartarpur Corridor.

Sarna said that the Indian Sikhs were grateful to the government for issuing them the maximum number of visas, adding, “Pakistan is sacred to us and we love it, and we come here with a message of peace and brotherhood.”

Pakistan Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee President Satwant Singh said that “Pakistan is a pure land for Sikhs and a second home for the Sikh community around the world.”

The teachings of Guru Nanak Dev revolve around peace and humanity.

Attock District Police Officer Shahzad Nadeem Bukhari reviewed security arrangements for the protection of the Sikh pilgrims. He told the media that multi-layered security plans have been made to ensure that visiting pilgrims are safe.