Good progress made at Kartarpur talks: Pak FO

The Pakistan Foreign Office (FO) said that "good progress" was made during technical level talks on the Kartarpur corridor between Pakistani and Indian delegations, a media report said on Saturday.

FO spokesman Mohammad Faisal, while talking to Dawn news over the phone, confirmed that the talks were held on Friday at the border, more commonly known as the ‘Zero Point', and that "good progress was made during the discussion".

A source said that most of the "technical matters" related to construction of the visa-free corridor for Indian Sikh pilgrims to visit the gurdwara in Kartarpur Sahib had been resolved and the project was on schedule for inauguration in time for Guru Nanak Dev's 550th birth anniversary in November.

The technical level talks pertain to the on alignment of the 4.2-km corridor that links India's Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district with the Kartarpur Sahib gurudwara in Pakistan's Punjab province, and sharing of coordinates of border crossing points and other infrastructure.

The two sides will meet shortly for a discussion on the remaining issues, the source added.

This was the first meeting between the two nations after the abrogation of Article 370 related to Jammu and Kashmir on August 5 which has led to escalation tensions between India and Pakistan.

The Kartarpur Sahib gurudwara across the Ravi river is built on the historic site where the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak Dev, spent his final days. The place is highly revered by the Sikh community.