- CHANDIGARH — The Union Ministry of Home Affairs on Wednesday announced the
closure of the Kartarpur Corridor “till further orders” after India struck nine
terrorist infrastructure sites in retaliation for the Pahalgam attack, under
code name ‘Operation Sindoor’.
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- Punjab’s Gurdaspur Deputy Commissioner Dalwinderjit Singh
told the media that the corridor will be shut for the day.
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- He said the district administration had not received any
orders from the government for the coming days. Nearly 150 Indian pilgrims
arrived at the Integrated Check Post (ICP) for the pilgrimage to the historic
Sri Darbar Sahib gurdwara in Narowal district of Pakistan, but were later asked
to return home.
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- The ICP at Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district
facilitates access to the Kartarpur Corridor.
Read: India avenges Pahalgam attack; strikes 9 terror targets in Pakistan, PoK under Op Sindoor
- “Immigration and defence officials told us that the
situation is not conducive and advised us to return around 11 a.m.,” one of the
pilgrims told the media.
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- The gurdwara is of immense spiritual significance to
Sikhs, as Guru Nanak Dev, the first Sikh guru, spent the last 18 years of his
life there and passed away at the site.
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- Inaugurated on November 9, 2019, by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi, the Kartarpur Corridor is a visa-free border crossing that
allows Indian citizens and Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) cardholders to
visit the gurdwara, located 4.7 km from the India-Pakistan border, without
requiring a visa.
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- After India’s military action, two international flights
en route to Amritsar were diverted to Delhi, and educational institutions along
the Pakistan border shut in Punjab.
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- Authorities in Punjab have announced that all schools,
colleges and educational institutions in regions along the international border
with Pakistan have been closed.
