The Indian central cabinet has decided to develop a corridor from Punjab’s Gurdaspur to the border it shares with Pakistan, to help the Sikh pilgrims to visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib located in Pakistan.
The Indian government has also decided to request the Pakistan government to build similar corridor in its side, from the International border between Pakistan and India to the pilgrim spot located near the Ravi River.
If these corridors are materialised, it will make the pilgrimage to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib extremely effortless. Yearly, thousands of people visit this pilgrim destination in Pakistan. The unavailability of proper road connectivity makes this pilgrimage very expensive. The main advantage of the proposed corridors is that the presence of these corridors will make the pilgrimage far less expensive than what a pilgrim spends for the journey at this moment.
Earlier, the Pakistan government itself placed similar proposal before India. Then, the Indian government did not pay much attention.
Anyway, at this juncture, Pakistan is less likely to reject the Indian proposal for the corridors, as it is more useful in terms of economic benefits to Islamabad than to Delhi.
Can the proposed linkage help both countries to find new platforms to cultivate peace and prosperity?
Vignesh. S. G
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