Karachi – India and Pakistan signed an agreement on Thursday allowing Indian pilgrims to cross the border to a Sikh shrine in Pakistan, rare cooperation between the nuclear-armed rivals at a time of tension and clashes elsewhere on their frontier.
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The pact will introduce visa-free access from India to the Pakistani town of Kartarpur, home to a temple that marks the site where the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak, died.
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“Today is a day of celebration,” Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Faisal told a signing ceremony in Kartarpur.
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Prime Minister Imran Khan will formally open the border to pilgrims on November 9, said Faisal, who signed the agreement on behalf of Pakistan with an Indian official.
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“It was very, very difficult and tough negotiations with India, because of the history we have, it is never easy, it is never simple,” Faisal said.
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The Sikh minority in India has long sought easier access to the temple, which is just over the border in Muslim-majority Pakistan.
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The pact comes at a time of considerable tension between the rivals, with Pakistan particularly aggrieved over recent Indian government measures in its part of the divided Muslim-majority region of Kashmir.
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Clashes have erupted regularly over their disputed border in Kashmir with several people killed on both sides in shelling over the weekend.
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The inauguration of the crossing point comes just before the 550th birthday of Sikhism’s founder on Nov. 12.
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The shrine is about 4km from the border. The crossing and corridor – including a road, bridge over the Ravi River and immigration office – will replace a drawn-out visa process and circuitous journey through Pakistan.
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But there has been Indian opposition to a sum of $20 that Pakistan will charge each visitor.
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Faisal said the $20 was a service charge, not a fee, and pilgrims would just have to present their passports, which would be quickly scanned, to cross in.
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