Pakistan regrets India’s decision to postpone upcoming Kartarpur meeting

Islamabad: Following a statement fro India’s Ministry of External Affairs the Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesman in Islamabad on Friday regretted India’s decision to postpone the upcoming Kartarpur meeting on April 2 “jointly agreed by both sides” on March 14
“The meeting was to discuss and find consensus on outstanding issues,” he said on Twitter. “Last minute postponement without seeking views from Pakistan and especially after the productive technical meeting on March 19 is incomprehensible.” Dr Faisal’s response comes shortly after New Delhi said it had “sought clarifications from Pakistan on key proposals put forward by India at the last meeting held in Attari to discuss the modalities of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor”.
The statement by the Indian ministry had added that “the next meeting on the modalities can be scheduled at an appropriate time after receiving Pakistan’s response”. According to the statement by MEA, “India has shared concerns and sought clarifications on reports that controversial elements have been appointed by Pakistan to a committee to be associated with the Kartarpur Corridor.” However, it did not elaborate on what ‘controversial elements’ it was referring to.
On Wednesday, Radio Pakistan reported that the Federal Cabinet had constituted a ten-member Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (PSGPC) to facilitate Sikh pilgrims after opening of Kartarpur Corridor. Meanwhile, India has also proposed in its statement that the infrastructure development for the corridor should go forward and “in an expeditious manner.”
“India has proposed to hold another meeting of technical experts in mid-April to resolve outstanding issues at the zero point agreed to at the last meeting,” the statement further clarified.
According to the MEA, the Indian government “remains committed to realise the long pending demand of the Indian pilgrims to visit the holy Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib using the corridor in a safe, secure, smooth and easy manner.” Earlier in the day, the FO had invited Indian media to apply for visas to cover the April 2 meeting at Wagha.
“Pakistan welcomes Indian media for the Kartarpur Corridor meeting at Wagah on April 2, 2019. They may apply to Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi for visas #PakKartarpurSpirit,” tweeted Dr Faisal. This was in contrast to India’s refusal to allow Pakistani journalists to cover the last meeting on the Kartarpur Corridor held at Attari.