BFF-44 Pakistan, India hold ‘positive’ talks on Sikh visits

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BFF-44

PAKISTAN-INDIA-POLITICS

Pakistan, India hold ‘positive’ talks on Sikh visits

ISLAMABAD, March 14, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Pakistan and India held “very
positive” talks Thursday, as the arch-rivals sat down to discuss a visa-free
corridor for Sikh pilgrims just weeks after soaring tensions brought the two
nuclear-armed powers to the brink of war.

Officials from the two countries met in Attari, India, to discuss the
details of an agreement that would allow Indian Sikhs to visit a shrine to
their religion’s founder in eastern Pakistan.

“Both sides held detailed and constructive discussions on various aspects
and provisions of the proposed agreement and agreed to work towards
expeditiously operationalizing the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor,” read the joint
statement released by Pakistan’s foreign ministry.

The two sides are set to meet again in the coming weeks to finalise the
deal, the statement added.

“They were very welcoming, the whole meeting took place in a very positive
environment,” added Pakistan’s foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Faisal.

Upon completion of the corridor, Indian Sikhs will be able to access the
site without first having to apply for a Pakistani visa.

The arch-rivals have maintained an uneasy calm since tit-for-tat cross-
border air raids across their disputed Kashmir frontier in February sparked
fears of wider war, with each side claiming to have shot down a fighter jet
from the other side.

The latest crisis was sparked by a February 14 suicide bombing in Indian-
administered Kashmir that killed 40 Indian paramilitaries, and was claimed by
a Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM).

A pilot who was shot down over Pakistani territory was later sent back to
India, lowering tensions.

Islamabad has also said it is cracking down on militants inside its
borders, saying that more than 100 insurgents, including many from JeM, had
been detained.

The talks in India come a day after China put on hold a request by
Britain, France and the United States to add Masood Azhar, leader of JeM, to
a UN terror blacklist.

Pakistani and Indian soldiers have continued to fire over the Line of
Control — the de-facto border dividing Kashmir, killing several civilians on
both sides.

Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since the end of
British colonial rule in 1947.

Both claim the Himalayan territory in full and have fought two wars over
it.

BSS/AFP/BZC/2025HRS