Chandigarh: The Union Ministry of Home Affairs on Wednesday announced the closure of the Kartarpur Corridor “till further orders” after India struck nine terrorist infrastructure sites in retaliation for the Pahalgam attack, under code name ‘Operation Sindoor’.
Punjab’s Gurdaspur Deputy Commissioner Dalwinderjit Singh told the media that the corridor will be shut for the day.
He said the district administration had not received any orders from the government for the coming days. Nearly 150 Indian pilgrims arrived at the Integrated Check Post (ICP) for the pilgrimage to the historic Sri Darbar Sahib gurdwara in Narowal district of Pakistan, but were later asked to return home.
The ICP at Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district facilitates access to the Kartarpur Corridor.
“Immigration and defence officials told us that the situation is not conducive and advised us to return around 11 a.m.,” one of the pilgrims told the media.
The gurdwara is of immense spiritual significance to Sikhs, as Guru Nanak Dev, the first Sikh guru, spent the last 18 years of his life there and passed away at the site.
Inaugurated on November 9, 2019, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Kartarpur Corridor is a visa-free border crossing that allows Indian citizens and Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) cardholders to visit the gurdwara, located 4.7 km from the India-Pakistan border, without requiring a visa.
After India’s military action, two international flights en route to Amritsar were diverted to Delhi, and educational institutions along the Pakistan border shut in Punjab.
Authorities in Punjab have announced that all schools, colleges and educational institutions in regions along the international border with Pakistan have been closed.
While educational institutes in Gurdaspur and Pathankot districts will be closed for three days, in Fazilka district, they will be shut till further notice.
Earlier this morning, in a major military action following the brutal Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 civilians, the Indian Army successfully executed ‘Operation Sindoor’, hitting nine high-value terror targets deep inside Pakistan. The operation was carried out with precision, targeting terrorist infrastructure associated with groups responsible for the attack. The strikes were part of India’s response to the April 22 terror attack that claimed the lives of 25 Indians and one Nepali national in Jammu and Kashmir.
(IANS)
