Even as the Kartarpur Corridor remains shut, India on Thursday said it will send a jatha of 1,500 Indian pilgrims to visit gurdwaras in Pakistan on the occasion of Guru Purab, from November 17-26 via the Attari-Wagah land border, UNI news agency said. Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that “In view of the significance of Guru Purab and sentiments associated with it, it has been decided that a Jatha of around 1,500 pilgrims will visit Pakistan from November 17-26, 2021 via the Attari-Wagah ICP.

“This visit is covered under the 1974 Bilateral Protocol between India and Pakistan on Visits to Religious Shrines.

"The pilgrims are scheduled to visit Gurudwara Shri Darbar Sahib, Gurudwara Shri Panja Sahib, Gurudwara Shri Dehra Sahib, Gurudwara Shri Nankana Sahib, Gurudwara Shri Kartarpur Sahib and Gurudwara Shri Sachha Sauda.”

He said that movement through the Kartarpur Corridor was suspended in March last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic and land travel between India and Pakistan is since being conducted on a limited scale through the Attari-Wagah Integrated Check Post in Punjab in coordination with the Pakistani side.

He also added that Pakistan had earlier “denied permission for the visit of Sikh pilgrims from India to Pakistan twice in June this year - one, on the occasion of the Martyrdom Day of Guru Arjan Dev Ji and second, on the Death Anniversary of Maharaja Ranjit Singh Ji. Both of these jathas are also covered under the 1974 Bilateral Protocol.”