Amid escalating military tensions between India and Pakistan, the Government of India has suspended services of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor until further notice. The announcement was made during the third official media briefing since Operation Sindoor, by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri.
“In view of the existing security scenario, the services of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor have been suspended till further directions,” said Misri while responding to a question on the status of the cross-border pilgrimage route.
The Kartarpur Corridor, inaugurated jointly by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former Pakistan PM Imran Khan on November 9, 2019, has been a significant religious and diplomatic channel, allowing visa-free access to Indian Sikh pilgrims to visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, Pakistan. The 4.7-kilometre-long corridor links Dera Baba Nanak Sahib in Gurdaspur, Punjab to the revered shrine believed to be the final resting place of Guru Nanak Dev.
The corridor had briefly shut during the Covid-19 pandemic but was reopened on November 17, 2021. Both countries had further renewed the corridor agreement for another five years in 2024. It served not just as a religious passage but also a symbol of people-to-people ties between Indian and Pakistani Punjabs.
However, with current border escalations and cross-border violations, India has opted for precautionary suspension. No date for resumption has been announced yet.
