India Urges Pakistan Again not to Levy $20 Kartarpur Pilgrim Fee

New Delhi: “Disappointed” as Pakistan insists on $20 service fee per Kartarpur pilgrim, India on Monday again urged the neighbouring country to reconsider to levy the fee and conveyed that it would be ready to sign the agreement on Kartarpur Sahib Corridor on October 23, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said. Noting that the government has consistently urged Pakistan that it should not levy such a fee in deference to the wishes of the pilgrims, an MEA statement said that “Pakistan continues to insist on levying a service fee of $20 per pilgrim per visit”. India said it is a matter of “disappointment” when understanding has been reached on most of the elements for facilitating the visit of pilgrims from India.

In view of the long pending demand of the pilgrims to have visa-free access to Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib and in the interest of operationalization of the Corridor in time before the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev — the founder of Sikhism — falling on November 12, the statement said, “the government has today conveyed that we would be ready to sign the Agreement on Kartarpur Sahib Corridor on October 23”. “While agreeing to sign the Agreement, the government of Pakistan has been once again urged to reconsider its insistence to levy service fee on pilgrims. India would be ready to amend the Agreement accordingly at any time,” said the statement. Pakistan has retained the $20 fee for every pilgrim from India visiting the Kartarpur Gurudwara, where Guru Nanak Dev spent the last 18 years of his life. Every day 5,000 pilgrims will be allowed to visit the holy site. The 4.2 km-long corridors from the Indian side in the Dera Baba Nanak area in Punjab’s Gurdaspur district will be completed by October 31, a week before the celebrations to mark the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev. (IANS)

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