Kartarpur Corridor

The Kartarpur Corridor (Punjabi: ਕਰਤਾਰਪੁਰ ਲਾਂਘਾ (Gurmukhi), کرتارپور لانگھا (Shahmukhi), romanized: kartārpur lāṅghā; Urdu: کرتارپور راہداری, romanized: kartār pūr rāhdārī) is a visa-free border crossing and religious corridor, connecting two gurdwaras (Sikh temples), Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, near Narowal in Pakistan and Gurudwara Dera Baba Nanak, Gurdaspur district, Punjab, India. The crossing allows devotees from India to visit the gurdwara in Kartarpur, Pakistan, 4.7 kilometres (2.9 miles) from the India–Pakistan border on the Pakistani side without a visa. Pakistani Sikhs are unable to use the border crossing, and cannot access Dera Baba Nanak on the Indian side without first obtaining an Indian visa or unless they work there. The Kartarpur Corridor was first proposed in early 1999 by Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Nawaz Sharif, the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan respectively at that time, as part of the Delhi–Lahore Bus diplomacy. On 26 November 2018, the foundation stone was laid down on the Indian side by Prime Minister Narendra Modi; two days later, then Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan did the same for the Pakistani side. The corridor was completed for the 550th anniversary of the birth of Guru Nanak, on 12 November 2019. Khan said "Pakistan believes that the road to prosperity of region [sic] and bright future of our coming generation lies in peace", adding that "Pakistan is not only opening the border but also their hearts for the Sikh community". Modi compared the decision by the two countries to go ahead with the corridor to the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, saying that the project could help ease tensions between the two countries. Previously, Sikh pilgrims from India had to travel to Lahore to get to Kartarpur, a 125 kilometres (78 miles) journey, even though people on the Indian side of the border could...