The National Sikh Council of Australia’s Secretary, Bawa Singh Jagdev, OAM told SBS Urdu that the Sikh community is confident that the corridor will be opening in the near future.
“Currently there are two issues, one is the Kashmir issue which is political and then there is another issue (Kartapur corridor) which is important not only for the Sikhs but the whole community.
"All the Sikhs, Muslims and Hindus visit Kartarpur; and that is what is important for the Sikh community and that’s what we are concerned with.
"It was decided that the corridor will be opened as soon as possible. "I believe that Pakistan’s government has started from their side of the corridor, but we are not sure about the other [Indian] side."
"It [Kartarpur corridor] is a religious issue; it is not a political issue and it should be finished as soon as possible. The opening will help the Sikhs, Muslims and Hindus to go and visit their shrines."
Importance of Kartarpur corridor
The route between the two countries will allow Sikh pilgrims from India visa-free access to the shrine of Baba Guru Nanak.
Sikhs will commemorate the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak in November 2019.
Last November Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan laid the foundation stone for the corridor to connect Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur area of Narowal district to Dera Baba Nanak in India’s Gurdaspur district.
Pakistan stance post India's airstrike
During a press conference in Islamabad, Tuesday, following the Indian airstrike in Pakistan, the country’s Foreign Minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that the Kartarpur corridor opening is a goodwill gesture and Pakistan has no plans to close it.
“Kartarpur corridor is a very old wish [of the Sikhs] and Pakistan fulfilled it. It carries a message of peace, which Pakistan has conveyed.
"We have never backed off from peace; but we are also not afraid of aggression."
"We opened Kartarpur routes, not to shut them.”
Former Indian cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu, led his country's delegation to Pakistan for the groundbreaking ceremony of Kartarpur corridor. Source: AAP
“It is the Mecca for every Sikh and every one of us has a desire to visit that place once in our lifetimes.
“Where we are spending hundreds of dollars to visit Kartarpur and Nankana sahib; [with the corridor opening] it will now become very easy for poor people to just cross the border, pay their respect and come back.
“The Australian Sikh community would like to request both the governments of Pakistan and India to leave their political enmities aside and start building the corridor.”
“The Australian Sikh community would like to request both the governments of Pakistan and India to leave their political enmities aside and start building the corridor.”
