Will Try To Settle Differences With Pakistan On Kartarpur Corridor: India

India will try to resolve differences with Pakistan on issues relating to Kartarpur corridor when the two sides hold talks on its implementation on July 14, the External Affairs Ministry said on Thursday.

"There are differences... We will try to resolve the differences in the meeting," spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs Raveesh Kumar said during a media briefing.

The first meeting to finalise the modalities for the corridor took place on the Indian side of the Attari-Wagah border on March 14.

The July 14 meeting will be held on the Pakistan side of the Wagah border.

Last month, India proposed July 11-14 to Pakistan to hold a fresh round of talks on the Kartarpur corridor. On Tuesday, Pakistan agreed for the dialogue on July 14.

India had earlier conveyed its strong concerns to Pakistan over the presence of a leading Khalistani separatist in a committee appointed by Islamabad on the Kartarpur project.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a letter written in response to a congratulatory message from his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan after Lok Sabha polls, had called for "early operationalisation of the Kartarpur corridor".

In November 2018, Pakistan 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 Punjab's Gurdaspur district.

Kartarpur is located in Pakistan's Narowal district across the Ravi river, about four km from Dera Baba Nanak.

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. They also held a meeting on May 27.

Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu and Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, on November 26 last year, laid the foundation stone of the Kartarpur corridor in Gurdaspur district. Two days later, the Pakistani prime minister laid the foundation stone of the corridor in Narowal, around 125 km from Lahore.