Pakistan, India hold technical level talks on Kartarpur corridor – Newspaper

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani and Indian delegations held another round of technical talks on the Kartarpur corridor on Friday.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Dr. Mohammad Faisal, while talking with Dawn by phone, confirmed that the talks took place at the border, more commonly known as the "Zero Point", and that "good progress was achieved during the discussion. "

A source said that most of the "technical issues" related to the construction of the corridor without a visa for Indian Sikhs to visit the Gurdwara in Kartarpur Sahib had been resolved and the project was scheduled for the inauguration in time for the 550th anniversary of the birth Guru Nanak will be held in November of this year.

The conversations at the technical level refer to the alignment of the corridor and the exchange of coordinates of the border crossing points and other infrastructures. The two sides will meet shortly for a discussion on the remaining issues, the source said.

The FO spokesman says "good progress" was made

It is important to note that Pakistan had kept the corridor project isolated from recent tensions with India over the annulment of Article 370, subsequent repressive actions in occupied Kashmir and the intense violations of the ceasefire in the Control Line. The project was also not affected by the previous episode of escalation between the two sides after the Pulwama attack in February.

Pakistan has taken a series of actions in response to the last Indian movement to end the autonomous state of occupied Kashmir, including the degradation of diplomatic ties and the suspension of commercial and rail traffic.

There has also been speculation about the closure of airspace for Indian aircraft. Dr. Faisal, at his weekly press conference on Thursday, said several options were being studied, but no final decision had been made.

Published on Dawn, August 31, 2019