India hasn't received any request on Kartarpur corridor: Harsimrat Kaur Badal

Days after Pakistani information and broadcasting minister Fawad Chowdhary said that the Kartarpur Border will be opened for pilgrims, India denied receiving any request on the corridor from Islamabad.

Answering WION's questions on the corridor on the sidelines of an event in FICCI in Delhi, Union Cabinet minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal said, "nothing has been received by the government of India from Islamabad indicating they are willing to do this." This is the first ever reaction by any Indian minister on the Kartarpur corridor.

Kartarpur Gurdwara is in Pakistan and it has been a long-standing demand of the Sikh community in India for a corridor to be able to visit the holy site.

The idea of the corridor got new lease of life when Punjab government minister Navjot Singh Sidhu visited Pakistan and met Pakistan's army chief Qamar Bajwa during the oath-taking ceremony of Pakistan's PM Imran Khan.

Navjot Singh, later that day, said the army chief had suggested the idea of the Kartarpur Gurdwara.

Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal reacting to WION's question on the corridor also said, "these decisions are taken by the governments and not by military generals."

She also slammed Navjot Singh Sidhu and described his act of hugging Pak army chief as an "unfortunate" event.

She said, "huge amount of talk by one individual about this is being sanctioned. As far as I am concerned, one individual went and gave an extremely unfortunate hugto that Individual (Pak Army chief) who is responsible for the killing of our jawans at the border. I appeal to that individual if he holds such power over our enemy country next door then he should use this power to stop the killing of our people and jawans."

The Kartarpur Gurdwara has been built on the site where Guru Nanak Ji died in 1539. The shrine, which is just a few kilometres from the border, is visible from the Indian side. Recently, Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria also visited the Gurdwara.

Pak MOFA spokesperson Mohammad Faisal recently in a briefing had said that Kartarpur corridor "cannot be considered in isolation", a comment many believe shows that it could take a long time for the corridor to open.