Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday laid the foundation stone for the Kartarpur corridor linking Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan – the final resting place of Guru Nanak Dev – to Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India’s Gurdaspur district to facilitate visa-free movement of Indian Sikh pilgrims.

After the ground-breaking ceremony, Khan said he could see the happiness on the faces of the Sikh pilgrims as that of Muslims who get a chance to visit Medina.

Vouching for peace, Khan claimed that the Kashmir dispute can be resolved through talks and a healthy respect for humanity.

He said that his government and army were all on the same page with an intent on establishing a “civilised relationship” with India.

“Just imagine the potential we have if our relationships get strong,” Pakistan PM said.

Further on, in a tongue-in-cheek comment, Imran Khan wondered why Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu was criticised after he attended the oath-taking ceremony of the Pakistan PM.

“I don’t know why was he criticised. He was just talking about peace and brotherhood,” he said.

On a lighter note, Khan joked that former Indian cricketer and current Punjab cabinet minister Navjot Singh Sidhu will win hands down if he contests elections in Pakistan’s Punjab, and added that he hoped he did not have to wait for the Congress leader to become the Prime Minister of India for an everlasting friendship between the two nations.

The Kartarpur Corridor, which will facilitate the visa-free travel of Indian Sikh pilgrims to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, is expected to be completed within six months.

Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan is located across the river Ravi, about four kilometres from the Dera Baba Nanak shrine. It was established by the Sikh Guru in 1522. The first Gurdwara, Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib, was built here, where Guru Nanak Dev is said to have died.

The development comes ahead of Guru Nanak’s 550th birth anniversary next year.

Thousands of Sikh devotees from India visit Pakistan every year to celebrate the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak.

India had proposed the corridor to Pakistan around 20 years back, but was rejected by the latter.

Last week, Pakistan and India announced that they would develop the corridor on their respective side of the border to help Indian pilgrims visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur.

India-Pakistan ties nose-dived in recent years with no bilateral talks taking place. The ties between the two countries had strained after the terror attacks by Pakistan-based groups in 2016.

Earlier in the day, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj announced that India will not attend the proposed Saarc Summit in Pakistan and there will be no dialogue with Islamabad until it stops sponsoring terrorism.

Read | Won’t respond to Pak invite to attend SAARC Summit: Sushma Swaraj

Sushma Swaraj made it clear that New Delhi will not participate in the Saarc summit and it was not responding to an invite from Pakistan for Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the gathering of South Asian leaders.

The issue of Kartarpur Sahib came into focus after Punjab Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu visited Pakistan in August to attend the oath-taking ceremony of his cricketer-turned-politician friend Imran Khan as prime minister of that country.

After his return, Sidhu said that Pakistan Army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa had told him that Pakistan may open a corridor to Kartarpur Sahib.