Kartarpur corridor: Navjot Singh Sidhu asks MEA permission to visit Pakistan

Former Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu on Saturday sought permission from the Union External Affairs Ministry to attend the inaugural ceremony of the Kartarpur corridor in Pakistan.

In a letter to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Sidhu said that he had been invited by the Pakistan government for opening ceremony of Kartarpur Sahib corridor on November 9.

"As a humble Sikh, it shall be a great honour to pay obeisance to our great Guru Baba Nanak on this historic occasion and connect to our roots," wrote Sidhu, who is a legislator from Amritsar East.

"Therefore, I may be permitted to visit Pakistan for this auspicious occasion," the former minister said in the letter.

In August last year, Sidhu had attended the oath-taking ceremony of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The corridor will connect Darbar Sahib in Pakistan's Kartarpur with Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district in Punjab and facilitate visa-free movement of Indian pilgrims, who will have to just obtain a permit to visit Kartarpur Sahib, which is located in Pakistan's Narowal district across the Ravi river.

Kartarpur Sahib is located in Pakistan's Narowal district across the Ravi river, about four kilometres from the Dera Baba Nanak shrine.

Pakistan is building the corridor from the Indian border to the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, while the other part from Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur up to the border is being built by India.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Kartarpur corridor on November 9 at Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur.