Modi called for early Kartarpur Corridor operationalisation in letter to Imran Khan: MEA

#US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo to visit India from June 25-27

21/06/2019

NEW DELHI, Jun 20: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a letter written in response to a congratulatory message by his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan, has called for "early operationalisation of the Kartarpur corridor which is functional all the year round", according the Ministry of External Affairs. The letter by Modi was sent to Khan on June 12, the MEA said.
"The was letter written by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Imran Khan. In that, there was mention of the Kartarpur corridor and he had written 'we will continue to work for early operationalisation of Kartarpur corridor which
is functional all year round'," Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in response to a question at a media briefing.
The current status is that there have been three technical-level discussions, and clarifications from the Pakistani side has been sought, he said, adding India is awaiting a response. The Indian government is committed to building of the corridor as it is a long-pending demand of the pilgrims and "we will take the steps that we have to in order to complete this", Kumar said. In November 2018, India and Pakistan had agreed to set up the border crossing linking Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, the final resting place of Sikh faith founder Guru Nanak, to Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district. Kartarpur is located in Pakistan's Narowal district across the Ravi river, about four km from Dera Baba Nanak. The first meeting to finalise the modalities for the corridor took place on the Indian side of the Attari-Wagah border on March 14.
Technical experts of the two countries met on March 19 during which alignment, coordinates and several other engineering aspects of the proposed corridor were discussed. However, on March 29, India conveyed its strong concerns to Pakistan over the presence of a leading Khalistani separatist in a committee appointed by Islamabad on the Kartarpur project.
India also postponed a previously agreed meeting on the project which was to be held on April 2 in Wagah on the Pakistani side.On May 27, officials from Pakistan and India held a meeting to discuss the modalities for the corridor. Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had on November 26 last year laid the foundation stone of the Kartarpur corridor in Gurdaspur district. Two days later, Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan laid the foundation stone of the corridor in Narowal, 125 km from Lahore. In the first high-level visit from any country following the LokSabha polls, US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo will be in India from June 25-27 and hold talks with the leadership here to strengthen the strategic partnership.
His visit comes ahead of a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Osaka, Japan on June 28-29. During his visit, Pompeo would hold talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and call upon other dignitaries, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said at a media briefing.
"We look upon the visit as an important opportunity for both sides to further strengthen the India-US strategic partnership and continue high-level engagement on matters of mutual interest, including bilateral, regional and global issues," Kumar said. "This is the first high-level engagement between India and the US following the elections. This is also the first incoming high-level visit from any country. We look upon this visit as an opportunity to discuss all the issues which will be on the table," Kumar said.
He said most of the issues under the bilateral framework will be discussed and there will be some talks on regional as well as global issues of mutual interest. Asked about media reports on the US considering caps on H-1B work visa, Kumar said, "We have not heard anything officially from the US government. We continue to reiterate and engage with the US government on this matter."
On whether the issue will be taken up with Pompeo during his visit here, Kumar said it would not be right to speculate on the agenda of his meetings here.
"There is no (official) report as such. There is no US official who has come up with a statement. It is a source-based report. We have not yet heard anything from the US government on this. We remain engaged with the US administration, we remain engaged with the Congress on this issue," Kumar said.
India has emphasised time and again at interactions at all levels the contribution of Indian skilled professionals to the growth and development of the US economy, he said. Kumar said it is important to understand that in a relationship that is as deep as it is with the US, there will be certain issues that will be on the table at all times.
"We should look at this relationship from the overall perspective. The overall direction of the relationship remains very positive," he said. Citing the popular election slogan "Modihai to mumkinhai", US Secretary of State Pompeo last week sought to take the bilateral relationship with India to the next level and said the Trump and Modi Administrations have a "unique opportunity" to make it happen.
"As Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi said in his latest campaign, 'Modihai to mumkinhai,' or 'Modi makes it possible', I'm looking forward to exploring what's possible between our people," Pompeo said in his major India policy speech at the India Ideas Summit of US-India Business Council last Wednesday. Refering to the speech, Kumar said despite all the talk of trade issues, bilateral trade has grown to USD 150 billion.
He cited developments such as seven-fold increase in bilateral trade since 2001, India being granted a major defence partner status, and US supporting India for a permanent seat in the Security Council, to assert that ties were on an upswing. Whatever issues are there will be appropriately discussed between the two sides, the MEA spokesperson said. On the issue of data localisation, Kumar said there are consultations taking place both within the government and also between the government and industry.
"We will remain engaged with the US on this matter and see how we can dispel any misconception on data localisation that they may have," he said. Apart from India, Pompeo will also travel to Sri Lanka, Japan and South Korea from June 24 to 30. His four-nation tour is aimed at deepening the US partnerships in the strategic Indo-Pacific region.

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