July 2 (AZINS) India and Pakistan will hold the second round of officials talks on modalities of Kartarpur corridor will take place on July 14 at Wagah, Pakistan.

Taking a step forward to break the deadlock on stalled India-Pakistan officials level talks on Kartarpur Corridor, New Delhi had last week asked Islamabad to pick a date between July 11-14 for the 2nd round of talks which are to take place at Attari-Wagah on the Pakistani side.

Agreeing to the date, Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it has conveyed to India that the second meeting to discuss the draft agreement for finalising the modalities of Kartarpur Corridor and related technical issues will be held on July 14, 2019 at Wagah. 

The Indian side has been requested to convey the composition of its delegation, it said. "Pakistan remains committed to expedited progress on the matter to ensure that the Corridor is operationalized in time for the 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Baba Guru Nanak in November 2019," it added. 

The 2nd round of talks was originally expected to take place on April 2 but India had postponed the talks as Pakistan had appointed Khalistani elements on a committee associated with the Kartarpur corridor.

A known Khalistani and close aide of 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed, Gopal Singh Chawla was appointed to Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee which oversees the project on Pakistan side.

The first round of India Pakistan talks were held on March 14 on the Indian side of Attari-Wagah border.

The focus of the upcoming meeting, if Pakistan agrees, would be to discuss the draft agreement on the Kartarpur corridor which includes movement of pilgrims, alignment and infrastructure along the corridor.

India during the first round of talks had proposed that the corridor should be open to Indian citizens and Indian diaspora with 5000 people allowed very day, Pakistan said it can allow only 700 people that too only Indian citizens on designated days with a paid permit.

Other than India Pakistan officials level talks, 3 technical level discussions have taken place between both sides to discuss and finalise alignment and other related issues.

Work is in full swing on the Indian side of the Kartarpur corridor with 45% of work already completed. India is building a four-lane highway and passenger bus terminal. The deadline for construction for the entire project is October 2019, just a month ahead of 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Devji in November.

(With inputs from Sidhant Sibal)