Some India-Pakistan stories do have a happy ending. Two brothers, one Indian and one Pakistani, who were separated during the India-Pakistan partition of the subcontinent in 1947, were reunited after 74 years in Kartarpur, the Sikh pilgrim center in Pakistan, local media reported. A video capturing the visibly emotional reunion of the siblings on Tuesday has been circulating on social media.

The News International of Pakistan reported that Siddique, a resident of Faisalabad, met with elder brother Habib who arrived at Kartarpur from the Phullanwal area of Punjab in India via the Kartarpur Corridor that connects Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan to the border with India.

Siqqique was an infant at the time of partition when his family was split and his elder brother Habib grew up on the Indian side of the partition line with one part of his family.

The brothers could not control their emotions and burst into tears of joy after meeting embracing each other and recalling memories. According to The News International, he told his younger brother that they will continue meeting through the Corridor.

Social media was abuzz with comments of users who viewed the touching video of the sibling reunion. Reports quoted the brothers thanking the governments of both countries for opening the Kartarpur Corridor facilitating visa-free travel by pilgrims from India to Pakistan up to Kartapur, a town where Sikhism's founder Guru Nanak was born and spent his last years doing community work. 

The Indian government decided to re-open on November 2021 the 4.7-km-long Kartarpur Corridor that was closed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.  A rare pact between India and Pakistan allows Indian pilgrims of all faiths to undertake round-the-year visa-free travel through the passage.

(SAM)