New Delhi, Nov 18 (IANS) Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday heaped praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for starting various initiatives for the Sikh community, including the operationalisation of the Kartarpur Corridor.
From opening of the Sri Kartarpur Sahib Corridor, to painting the fundamental teaching of Sikhism ੴ 'Ek Onkar' on an @airindia aircraft that began operations between Sri Amritsar Sahib & London (Stansted) from 31st Oct 2019 when I was the Civil Aviation Minister, a host of… pic.twitter.com/1UHQktgDcF
— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) November 18, 2024
The Kartarpur Corridor in Punjabi is a visa-free border crossing and religious corridor, connecting the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, near Narowal in Pakistan to Gurudwara Dera Baba Nanak, in India's Gurdaspur district of Punjab.
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.
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.
The national carrier Air India had also painted "Ik Onkar" on one of its Boeing 787 Dreamliner to mark the 550th birthday of Guru Nanak in 2022.
Ek Onkar means "God is One". The symbol is an emblem of the Sikh religion and is found on Gurdwaras (Sikh temples) around the world.
