Despite the escalating tensions over Kashmir, Indian and Pakistani officials will meet on Friday to discuss the Kartarpur corridor project.
The technical meeting between India and Pakistan will be held at Zero Point on the border.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani delegation has arrived at the Zero Point for consultations on Kartarpur corridor.
“India concurred with Pakistan’s proposal, and the technical meeting on Kartarpur Sahib corridor is being held on August 30 at Zero Point,” Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammed Faisal had said at a press briefing on Thursday.
“Pakistan remains committed to completing and inaugurating the Kartarpur Sahib corridor as announced by our Prime Minister,” he added.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had earlier assured the opening of the much-awaited corridor for Sikh pilgrims to take part in celebrations in connection with the 550th birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak.
After New Delhi revoked Article 370 of the Constitution which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated the state into two Union Territories on August 5, tensions have been on the rise between the two countries.
India has, however, made it clear to Pakistan that its constitutional move in Jammu and Kashmir is an “internal and sovereign matter”, and Islamabad should “accept the reality.”
Pakistan had decided to downgrade diplomatic relations with India over the Kashmir move by expelling Indian High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria and suspending trade with India.
The much-awaited corridor will connect Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur – the final resting place of Sikh faith’s founder Guru Nanak Dev – with Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district and facilitate visa-free movement of Indian Sikh pilgrims, who will have to just obtain a permit to visit Kartarpur.
The corridor was a long-pending demand of the Sikh community.
Pakistan is building the corridor from the Indian border to the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib while the other part from Dera Baba Nanak up to the border will be constructed by India.
As India-Pakistan ties nosedived once again after Centre scrapped Article 370 of the Constitution, it was speculated that the work on the corridor might get hindered.