World powers welcome Kartarpur initiative.

Byline: SHAFQAT ALI

ISLAMABAD -- Top world powers: the United States, China and Russia: have hoped that the Kartarpur corridor between Pakistan and India will help ease the Pak-India tension that has endangered the regional peace.

Senior government officials told The Nation yesterday that the US, China and Russia had supported Pakistan's gesture to open the Kartarpur corridor for the Sikh community.

'They all believe it will help defuse the (Pak-India) tension and gradually revive the dialogue process,' said one official, citing the regular government-level contacts.

Another official said that the three powers had urged Pakistan to persist with the positivity to move forward. 'They have acknowledged our efforts so far to maintain peace (in the region). Apart from these powers, we have received messages from around the world. They (the whole world) have supported our struggle for peace,'he added.

Over the weekend, Prime Minister Imran Khan said Pakistan will open the much-awaited Kartarpur corridor to India on November 9. The proposed corridor will connect Darbar Sahib in Pakistan's Kartarpur with Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district of Punjab, India.

The move will allow visa-free movement of Indian Sikh devotees, who will have to just obtain a permit to visit Kartarpur Sahib, which was established in 1522 by Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev.

Pakistan built the corridor from the Indian border to the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, while the other part from Dera Baba Nanak in Punjab's Gurdaspur district up to the border was constructed by India.

In a Facebook post, PM Khan said: 'Pakistan is all set to open its doors for Sikhs from all across the globe, as the construction work on Kartarpur project enters final stages and will be open to public on November 9, 2019.'

His statement cleared the air on whether the corridor will be open on the occasion of the 550th birth anniversary of the Sikh faith founder Guru Nanak Dev next on...