India cancels Kartarpur talks over ‘Khalistanis’

New Delhi: Indian concerns over Khalistani propaganda in Pakistan have scuttled, for now, the next round of talks on the Kartarpur Sahib corridor on April 2 at Wagah in Pakistani Punjab even as Islamabad has agreed to allow non-Sikh Indian pilgrims to visit the holy shrine in its territory.

Speculation is also rife that the Indian government may have wanted to avoid a media spectacle at Wagah on April 2, especially when the Pakistan government had already invited the Indian media to apply for visas to cover the talks.

Government sources said on Friday that India had “called in” Pakistan deputy high commissioner Syed Haider Shah and conveyed to him concerns over appointment of known pro-Khalistan people like Gopal Singh Chawla, a Pakistani Sikh linked to Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed, and others on a committee on the Kartarpur pilgrimage.

India has sought to know the role that these known Khalistan sympathisers would play. New Delhi will decide the next date for talks on the Kartarpur corridor after a response from Islamabad, effectively meaning that the April 2 meeting is virtually called off.

Government sources said it was important to bridge “substantive gaps” in the positions between the two sides, pointing out that a “meeting just for the sake of optics” is not feasible. “There should be substantive outcomes. Once we receive the response from Pakistan to our concerns and clarifications, the next date can be decided,” said an official source.

The ministry of external affairs said, “India has 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. India has also 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. It has been conveyed that the next meeting on the modalities can be scheduled at an appropriate time after receiving Pakistan’s response.”

Apart from Chawla, India is also concerned about the presence of alleged pro-Khalistan people like Maninder Singh, Tara Singh, Bisant Singh and Kuljit Singh on the Kartarpur committee.

“This has raised our security concerns. Gopal Singh Chawla is also associated with Hafiz Saeed and the JuD. There can’t be any let-up on security concerns. There are clouds of doubt,” said a government source.

“These people are involved in issuing statements and engaging in activities that promote violence and hatred against India,” the source added.

In addition to Indian concerns over Khalistani propaganda and harassment of Indian Sikh pilgrims in Pakistan, there are other issues too. India wants 5,000 pilgrims to be allowed to visit daily but Pakistan wants the number to be 500 to 700. Pakistan is also not willing to allow pilgrims with an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card. India wants the pilgrimage to be visa-free but Pakistan wants to impose a fee and is insisting that pilgrims obtain a special permit for it. Pakistan has also not responded to India’s request to free 100 acres of land belonging to the Kartarpur Sahib Gurudwara from encroachers.

But in a key concession, Pakistan has agreed to allow non-Sikh Indian pilgrims to visit Kartarpur Sahib where Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism and first Guru of the Sikhs, spent the last years of his life in the first half of the 16th century.

The two countries are trying to hammer out an agreement on the modalities that will enable Iindian Sikh pilgrims to travel on the special “corridor” for the pilgrimage to the Gurudwara in November this year for the 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak who had spent the last years of his life at Kartarpur in the first half of the 16th century.