Kartarpur Corridor – a step towards peace

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Imran Khan performed the groundbreaking of the Kartarpur Corridor honoring his commitment to Navjot Sidhu when he had come to attend his oath-taking ceremony in August. Pakistan will build the corridor from the Indian border to the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur while the other part from Dera Baba Nanak in Indian Punjab’s Gurdaspur district up to the border will be constructed by India. Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi were accompanying the premier as he arrived at Kartarpur. Navjot Singh Sidhu, Minister for Food Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Minister for Housing Hardeep S. Puri stood alongside the premier, as he laid the foundation stone of the corridor. Last week, India had agreed to build Kartarpur corridor providing visa-free access to Sikh pilgrims who wished to visit the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Narowal District near the Indian border.
Whereas hundreds of millions members of Sikh community are happy over the corridor for their dream come true, and appreciate Pakistan’s initiative, Indian government and Indian media find this opportunity for propaganda against Pakistan. COAS General Qamar Javed Bajwa termed the initiative a step towards peace, which according to ISPR did not go down well with certain quarters of the Indian media. The DG ISPR shared images of an Indian channel purporting a Khalistan activist meeting General Bajwa at the groundbreaking ceremony of Kartarpur corridor on Wednesday. The channel flashed the images with incendiary captions, “Pakistan provokes India at Kartarpur ceremony” and “Khalistani extremist Gopal Chawla with Pakistan army chief.” General Qamar Javed Bajwa had met all guests but Indian media taking a myopic view in selectively showing shake hand with Gopal Chawla and tried to tag Pakistan with Khalistan movement.
Indian Punjab’s Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had declined Pakistan’s invitation to attend Kartarpur corridor ground breaking ceremony, NDTV had reported on Sunday. To a question, he leveled allegations against Islamabad and army chief, and stated: “I hope the Prime Minister Imran Khan will understand that under these circumstances it will not be possible for me to be present in Pakistan on this historic occasion.” Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi had invited the chief minister Punjab Amarindar Singh as well as Indian Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj and cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu. Sushma Swaraj was a bit diplomatic and excused from attending the ceremony in a Twitter, what she said, because of her preoccupation with earlier scheduled matters, and said government of Indian was sending its representatives to the event. But later to a question she said that India will not participate in SAARC conference.
Anyhow, groundbreaking of Kartarpur Corridor was a monumental event, which would open many opportunities for both Pakistan and India. This has widely been appreciated except Indian government and Indian media, which is ahead of the government in criticizing Pakistan. On the other hand, media in Pakistan has been appreciative, and many consider the Corridor initiative a great achievement of PTI government. In fact, the elected government and military are on the same page, and trust each other. Some analysts and chattering classes wonder as to how the military is supporting the Imran Khan’s initiative to build bridges with India? In fact, Army Chief General Bajwa also in his statements expressed his desire of having good relations with the neighboring countries. There was of course element of distrust between PML-N government and military because the relations between PM Narendra Modi and then Pakistan’s PM Nawaz Sharif were of personal nature.
Nawaz Sharif had attended Narendra Modi’s oath-taking ceremony on his invitation which had irked many in Pakistan. In December 2015, Indian premier Narendra Modi during his visit to Afghanistan delivered a speech at Afghanistan Assembly insinuating Pakistan through an oblique reference to Pakistan. After showering praise for Afghan bravery and concocting history, he stated: “But, brave and tireless as the Afghans are in defending their nations, Afghanistan will succeed only when terrorism no longer flows across the border; when nurseries and sanctuaries of terrorism are shut; and, their patrons are no longer in business”. The next day he paid a visit to Lahore to wish then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif a happy birthday. This was the first time an Indian premier visited Pakistan in more than a decade. Both leaders flew to Raiwind from Lahore airport in a chopper, where Modi briefly attended PM Nawaz’s grand daughter’s wedding ceremony. Yet India continued the ceasefire violations at LoC and working boundary, which was rather surprising.