Pak-India talks on corridor today.

Byline: SHAFQAT ALI

ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan and India will hold talks today to finalise the draft agreement on the Kartarpur Corridor.

A Pakistani delegation is scheduled to arrive in India on Thursday to discuss and finalise modalities for facilitating visit of Sikh pilgrims through the Kartarpur Corridor.

Pakistan has already shared the draft agreement to facilitate Indian Sikh Yatrees (pilgrims) to visit the Gurdwara, Darbar Sahib Kartarpur, Narowal, Pakistan. This was in line with Prime Minister Imran Khan's commitment to open Kartarpur Corridor on the occasion of the 550th birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak in November this year.

But India, living up to its reputation of spoiling the party, on Wednesday refused to issue visas to Pakistani journalists who wanted to cover the corridor talks.

Pakistan regretted that India had not issued visas to the Pakistani journalists to cover the round of talks on Kartarpur Corridor at Attari near Amritsar today (March 14).

This will be their first meeting on March 14 at the top level to finalise the modalities and discuss the draft agreement of the Kartarpur Corridor.

'Hope the #PakKartarpurSpirit and meeting tomorrow will bring a change for the better for people of both countries,' Foreign Office Spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal said on twitter.

Dr Faisal reminded that more than 30 Indian journalists covered the Kartarpur ground-breaking ceremony in Pakistan last year. They also met Prime Minister Imran Khan and were hosted by Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi for a dinner during their stay in Pakistan.

Officials said an Indian team will visit Pakistan later this month to finalise the deal. 'Despite tensions, it's a great initiative which will help cool the high tempers,' said one official.

Another official said Pakistan was going into the talks with an 'open mind' and aimed to improve ties with India.

For Kartarpur Corridor talks, a Pakistani delegation led by Dr Mohammed Faisal will cross Wagah border to hold consultations with India on March 14. Later, an Indian delegation will also arrive in Pakistan on March 28 for further deliberations.

Islamabad and New Delhi had last week confirmed that talks were on schedule despite the tensions. However, in its recent wave of aggression, India refuted to accept it as a resumption of dialogue between the two South Asian neighbours.

In November 2018, Pakistan offered India the building of the corridor for Sikh pilgrims for visiting the Gurudwara at...