Manmohan Singh to visit Kartarpur on Pakistan's invite

Pakistan is going to open the Kartarpur corridor for Indian pilgrims from Nov 9, media reports said.

Reports said Singh accepted an invitation by Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh to visit Katarpur on Nov 9.

"Former PM Dr Manmohan Singh accepts @capt_amarinder’s invite to join 1st Jatha to Sri Kartarpur Gurdwara on Nov 9, will also attend Sultanpur Lodhi main event @550yrsGuruNanak," tweeted Ravin Thukral, media advisor to Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.

Earlier, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had told a Pakistani news channel on Monday that Pakistan will invite former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Sing for the inauguration as he represents the Sikh community and is well respected in his country.

Manmohan Singh's office had earlier said he was unlikely to accept the invite as he had not visited Pakistan even during his 10-year tenure as the Prime Minister of India.

The Kartarpur corridor will connect Darbar Sahib in Pakistan's Kartarpur with Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district and facilitate the movement of Indian Sikh pilgrims.

Some 500 Indian Sikh pilgrims earlier visited Pakistan side to celebrate the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak at his birthplace, Nankana Sahib, on Aug 1.

This followed after India and Pakistan agreed to  a new border access for Sikh pilgrims of India to visit the holy Sikh site at Katarpur in Muslim-majority Pakistan.

Sikhism founder Guru Nanak was born in 1469 in a  village near the Pakistani city of Lahore. But pilgrims had to procure visa and travel to Lahore and then reach the holy place by road. 

The direct and visa-free access to the holy site is now possible with the opening of the Katarpur corridor since the place is actually only  4 km away from the Indian border