Lahore (Web Desk): Indian Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, along with his cabinet ministers, visited the Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib on Thursday, a day before Gurpurab, which marks the birth anniversary of Sikhism founder Baba Guru Nanak.
The Kartarpur Corridor, which links Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan, the final resting place of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev, to Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district, reopened on Wednesday.
Pilgrimage to the Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara was suspended in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Indian Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi, along with his ministers, were part of the first delegation to visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur.
Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (PSGPC) president Sardar Ameer Singh greeted and received them on their arrival.
Kartarpur crossing was reopened on Wednesday after more than a year as pilgrimage was suspended in March 2020 due to the COVID-19.
Earlier, the first batch of 28 Indian Sikhs, including women, arrived at the holiest site of Sikhism, while over 2,500 pilgrims arrived via the Wagah border.
Pakistan and India signed the Kartarpur corridor agreement in 2019 and Indian pilgrims of all faiths are allowed to undertake round the year visa-free travel through the stretched passage.
On Wednesday, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi extended welcome to the Sikh pilgrims arriving on the 552nd birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak.
Pakistan had reopened the Kartarpur Corridor on June 29, 2020, after a temporary suspension of about three months however Modi led government kept the Corridor closed from its side for nearly 20 months.
Pakistan and India had closed the corridor in March 2020 to curb the spread of the deadly coronavirus pandemic.
On November 16, the Indian authorities announced to reopen the 'peace corridor' amid the 552nd birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak, Sikhism's central figure, that falls on November 19 this year.