The Kartarpur Sahib Corridor is all set to reopen on Wednesday, 17 November, two days before the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak.
Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday, 16 November, had announced on Twitter that the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor would be reopened from Wednesday, 17 November.
"This decision reflects the immense reverence of Modi govt towards Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji and our Sikh community," Shah added.
This decision came more than 20 months after it was shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic and following a meeting of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs from Punjab with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday.
"This decision of the Modi Government will benefit large number of Sikh pilgrims," the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a press release.
The ministry said that Home Minister Shah had held review meetings with officials to expedite the resumption of the operation of the corridor.
Pilgrimage through the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor would be facilitated as per existing procedures and adherence to COVID-19 protocols, the press release added.
Last week, Pakistan, too, had urged the Indian government to reopen the corridor.
The decision to reopen the corridor comes ahead of the Assembly elections in Punjab, slated for early next year.
Punjab Leaders Laud Decision to Re-open Corridor
Soon after the announcement on Tuesday, former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh thanked Modi and Shah for reopening the Kartarpur Corridor, saying that the reopening of the corridor was a long-pending demand of the followers of Guru Nanak.
"There could not have been a better occasion than now for opening of the corridor as thousands of devotees will get the chance to pay their obeisance at the holy shrine on the Guruparab day itself," Singh added in a statement in Chandigarh, reported IANS.
Punjab CM CS Channi said that it was a happy moment and said that it showed the prayers of the Sikh community being answered.
"I had met PM Modi and Home Minister Shah as CM and had requested them. Now they've announced, I thank them," he said, according to news agency ANI.
CM Channi also announced that the entire state Cabinet would pay obeisance at Sri Kartarpur Sahib on 18 November as a part of the first delegation after the re-opening of the corridor.
Meanwhile, Shiromani Akali Dal leader Sukhbir Singh Badal also said that he was very happy, as Harsimrat Kaur Badal and he had written letters to Modi for the same.
"It's good that it is reopening. It was the demand of a lot of people and it was the sentiment of an entire community that is being fulfilled today," Badal said, according to ANI.
(With inputs from ANI and IANS.)
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