India Suspends Kartarpur Corridor Operations Amid Rising Tensions with Pakistan

NEW DELHI: India has temporarily suspended operations at the Kartarpur Corridor following recent missile strikes on Pakistan, halting Sikh pilgrims from visiting the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, according to Indian media reports on Wednesday.

The Ministry of Home Affairs’ Bureau of Immigration issued a notification closing the corridor at Dera Baba Nanak in Punjab’s Gurdaspur district “until further notice”. Pilgrims who arrived early Wednesday were turned back after a 90-minute wait at the check-post.

The closure comes on the heels of Indian missile strikes in Pakistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), which left 26 civilians dead and damaged multiple mosques.

The Kartarpur Corridor, launched in November 2019, enables Indian Sikh pilgrims to visit one of their holiest sites—the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, the final resting place of Guru Nanak—without requiring a visa. The corridor links Pakistan’s shrine with the Dera Baba Nanak temple on the Indian side.

In response to the missile attacks, Pakistan’s armed forces downed five Indian Air Force (IAF) jets, a combat drone, and destroyed brigade headquarters and several checkposts along the Line of Control (LoC), confirmed DG ISPR Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry on Wednesday.