LAHORE: The government on Friday said it had proposed to open the Kartarpur border crossing with India for Sikh pilgrims to visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib without visa.

“There is a proposal to open Kartarpur border and after that the Indian Sikhs visiting the gurdwara will be required to have a ticket,” Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry told Dawn.

The Kartarpur gurdwara is located in Narowal district near the Indian border.

Earlier, army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa had hinted at opening the Kartarpur border on the occasion of Baba Guru Nanak’s birth anniversary next year for Sikh pilgrims when he met cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu during his visit here in the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Last month Indian High Commissioner Ajay Basariya had also visited Kartarpur border.

A source told Dawn that the PTI government had not yet taken the Evacuee Trust Property Board (which looks after holy places of minorities) into confidence in this regard.

Published in Dawn, September 8th, 2018