Pakistan, India sign Kartarpur Corridor agreement.

KARTARPUR -- Pakistan and India signed the agreement on Kartarpur Corridor - the first visa-free corridor between the two neighbours since their independence in 1947 - on Thursday at Kartarpur Zero Line to permit the intending Sikh pilgrims visit Baba Guru Nanak's shrine on his 550th Birth Anniversary in early November.

The special significance is the fact that a bilateral treaty is being signed when bilateral relations are at an all-time low and no high-level meetings between the two sides have been held. While there have been several agreements between the two sides, very few have been signed by them. In 1974, a Bilateral Agreement on Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines was signed.

The last disagreement between the rival states was the $20 service fee that Pakistan wanted to charge from every pilgrim as a service fee for a single trip. India, initially denied it; however, later agreed to it reluctantly.

Meanwhile, Pakistan has been currently working out a mechanism for charging the $20 fee from the pilgrims.

The spokesperson said a mechanism has been evolved for the visits of...