India, Pakistan hold Kartarpur Corridor talks but bilateral tensions remain high
Indian and Pakistani officials will meet in the northern Indian village of Attari today for technical discussions on the implementation of the so-called Kartarpur Corridor.
The Corridor is a proposal to allow visa-free travel for Indian Sikh pilgrims to the Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara—a holy site that sits four kilometres inside Pakistani territory. Currently, pilgrims must travel more than 100 kilometres to reach the gurdwara. Proposals for the border corridor have been considered for almost two decades.
Remarkably, today’s meeting comes just over two weeks after India and Pakistan appeared to be on the brink of war. However, far from being a sign of rapprochement, today’s talks are seen as largely divorced from broader Indo-Pak relations—a view that’s been echoed by India’s foreign minister and senior military officials.
Indeed, tensions between these two troubled neighbours are likely to remain high over the coming months. India will hold national elections beginning on April 11, and PM Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist BJP could well capitalise on renewed anger towards Pakistan to boost their political prospects.
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