Pakistan, India agree on service fee for Kartarpur Corridor.

Byline: Baqir Sajjad Syed

ISLAMABAD -- Despite tensions running high over Kashmir, Pakistan and India are set to sign the agreement that would govern the operations of the visa-free Kartarpur Corridor for Indian Sikh pilgrims.

Foreign Office Spokesman Dr Muhammad Faisal, while speaking to Dawn, confirmed that an agreement had been reached on the draft and the two sides would be signing it soon. He said 'the dates for signing of the accord were being worked out'.

Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had earlier in the day said in a media statement that the Indian government had conveyed its readiness 'to sign the Agreement on Kartarpur Sahib Corridor on 23 October 2019'.

The details of the agreement had been under negotiation since March. The first round of talks was held on March 14 at the Indian side of Attari-Wagah border. Alongside the officials' level talks, both side held several rounds of expert level meetings to discuss technical aspects of the project.

Facility for pilgrims is scheduled to be opened on Nov 9

There have so far been three rounds of officials' level talks.

The two sides, during their negotiations, kept on differing over various issues ranging from number of pilgrims to the number of days the corridor would remain open and the composition of Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (PSGPC), which had been set up to facilitate Sikh pilgrims.

The last sticking point was the $20 service fee Pakistan has decided to charge from every Sikh pilgrim using the corridor.

Dr Faisal said that the issue had been resolved.

But, MEA in its statement looked to have reluctantly accepted the fee as it urged Pakistan to review it.

'It is a matter of disappointment that while understanding has been reached on most of the elements for facilitating the visit of pilgrims from India, Pakistan continues to insist on levying a service fee of USD 20 per pilgrim per visit,' MEA said in its statement.

It further said: 'While...