Opening of Kartarpur Corridor improves Pakistan's image

Kartarpur Corridor will facilitate Sikh community to visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Narowal District

PESHAWAR (APP) - Political, economic experts and civil society intelligentsia here Monday said opening of Kartarpur Corridor by Prime Minister Imran Khan has improved an image of Pakistan in comity of nations.

“The opening of Kartarpur Corridor was a historic development and a significant step forward to improve bilateral relations between Pakistan and India,” said Professor Dr Muhammad Naeem of Economic Department, University of Swabi while talking to APP on Monday.

Terming it a gift of Pakistan, he said, the Sikh community living around the world would comfortably visit to their holy place of Kartarpur Gurdwara through state-of-the art corridor and would perform their rituals as per their belief. He said it would help promote interfaith harmony in the country.

ALSO: In Pictures: Pakistan opens Kartarpur Corridor for Sikh pilgrims

He said investment has started coming to Pakistan due to stabilization of economy and confidence of investors were restored due to better economic and financial policies of the Government.

Dr Naeem said no country can move forward on road to progress and development unless its people pay taxes regularly and discourage menace of corruption.

Provincial Minister for Environment and Forests, Syed Ishtiaq Urmar also welcomed opening of Kartarpur Corridor that would help improve bilateral relation between the two neighboring countries.

“Our Prime Minister has won the hearts and minds of over 140 million Sikhs by opening of Kartarpur Gordwara that was being praised at national and international forums including US and Indian Prime Minister,” he said.

He said presence of former Indian PM Manmohan Singh, Navjot Singh Sidhu and Sunny Devol besides thousands other Sikh pilgrims during an opening ceremony of Kartarpur Corridor have demonstrated the importance of Kartarpur for them.

He said, “Our Prime Minister Imran Khan has fulfilled yet another promise by completing state-of-the art Kartarpur Corridor within a short period and provided best facilities to Sikh pilgrims there.”

“Even the Indian Prime Minister Narrendar Modi and cricketer-turned politician Novjot Singh Saidhu have highly appreciated the leadership of PM Imran Khan,” he said.

The minister said PM Imran Khan had again boldly highlighted human rights violations and atrocities of the Indian occupational forces against innocent Kashmiris in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOJ&K) during his landmark address in front of Indians and demanded Modi government to lift the nearly 100 days curfew and Communications blackout in the held valley.

In presence of thousands of Sikhs and their leaderships, he said Prime Minister Imran Khan has explained in clear terms that the recent illegal and unilateral actions of India at IoJ&K have put peace of South Asia at stake.

Ishtiaq said the only solution of the core issue of Kashmir was peaceful settlement through meaningful dialogue between the two countries.

He said time has come for UN to come forward and implement its resolutions over Kashmir in letter and spirit.

Political analyst and former Information Minister Misal Khan has also welcomed opening of Kartarpur and termed it a gift of Pakistan for Sikh Community.

He said Pakistan has taken a significant step forward to improve relations with India after an opening of Kartarpur and now it is upto Modi Government to reciprocate positively and lift the nearly 100 days curfew in IOJ&K and allow innocent Kashmir to perform their religious obligations in the held valley comfortably.

He said serious humanitarians crisis have been developed in IoJ& K after curfew was clampdown by the occupied forces, thus depriving over eight million innocent people from all basic rights freedoms besides subjected them to unending mental and physical torture. He said roads to peace were passing through Kashmir and resolution of this decades long core issue was imperative for lasting peace and stability in the region.

Khan said said it was the duty of United Nations to press India for ending the longest siege of over eighty lakh innocent Kashmiris in IoJ&K besides implement its Security Council’s resolutions on Kashmir as further delay was likely to jeopardize peace in the entire region. He said deployment of around nine lakh occupational forces in IoJ&K has completely failed to suppress the legitimate independence movement in the held valley. He said the time was not away when people of the Indian Occupied Kashmir would get independence from India yoke.

Tribal elder Asghar Afridi, economist Umar Khayam and academician Pir Muhammad Khan besides Sikh community in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have also welcomed opening of the Kartarpur and thanked PM for materializing dreams of hundreds of thousands Sikh pilgrims into reality.