t is the “strength” of public support that is the power behind every bullet the soldier fires. Loose talk, catering to a limited audience, can ultimately prove enfeebling. Can the nation afford that?

Defence and diplomacy are often said to be opposite sides of the same coin: with the uniforms adding that they are often tasked with clearing up the mess created by incompetent foreign offices. Yet it has been a sterling feature of India’s democracy that unlike what obtains across its western border, a healthy distinction has been maintained between those two facets of governance.

Until now at least. General Bipin Rawat, not for the first time, has turned established norms on their head by contending that Pakistan and India could never enjoy a cordial relationship until Islamabad revokes its status as an Islamic state. There has never been a dearth of Pakistan-bashers in the country (the Navjot Singh Sidhu’s and Mani Shankar Aiyar’s are maverick exceptions) but not even the most Nagpur-oriented of them has never gone as far as the Chief of Staff of an Army that took immense pride in its secular, apolitical credentials.

Not that Pakistan is the only Islamic nation on the planet, are they all to be slammed as pariahs? Does India not have excellent ties many with of them, are remittances from Gulf-based NRIs not a critical component of India’s foreign-exchange reserves? Gen Rawat could undermine the several successes of the MEA in general, Mrs Sushma Swaraj in particular. Not to mention under-cutting the essays of Gen VK Singh. And in a larger context, are Hindu and Muslim intrinsically incompatible?

The “simple soldier” alibi will just not work: Rawat could not have been unaware of the developments over Kartarpur, who authorised him to “take on” Imran Khan? Worse, he stepped out of line at a function at which the focus was on young, impressionable, military cadets.

Was this not a case of nurturing an equivalent of the Hate-India campaign for which we consistently condemn Pakistan? What if other countries cite cow vigilantes running amuck, desecration of churches etc to question India’s secular status? Lambasting Pakistan for its sponsorship of terrorism in J&K is one thing, questioning that nation’s religious status is something else.

And if Sushma Swaraj is unable to ensure that the General refrains from exceeding his brief the MEA risks international embarrassment. Do his “brother generals” endorse his politically-loaded line? The efficiency of a military force is established by its showing in the field, even if the politicians seek to capitalise on surgical strikes etc.

The apex court’s latest order/observations on the Army’s use of excessive force in Manipur, and its rejection of the government’s argument serve as a stark reminder that in public perception the image of the Army is losing its aura. And it is the “strength” of public support that is the power behind every bullet the soldier fires. Loose talk, catering to a limited audience can ultimately prove enfeebling. Can the nation afford that? Nirmala Sitharaman has to answer the query.

he indigenously designed BrahMos missile is a tested and proven supersonic cruise missile and will form the primary weapon on-board these ships, said the official.

New Delhi, December 1

The Defence Ministry on Saturday approved military procurement worth Rs 3,000 crore, including BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles for Navy’s two stealth frigates and armoured recovery vehicles for the Army’s Arjun main battle tanks, a senior official said.

The go-ahead for both acquisitions was given by the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), the ministry’s highest decision-making body on procurement, the senior military official said.

“The DAC chaired by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman accorded approval for acquisition of defence equipment worth about Rs 3,000 crore,” he said.

India is procuring two stealth frigates at a cost of USD 1 billion and both the ships will be equipped with indigenously developed BrahMos missiles.

“The indigenously designed BrahMos missile is a tested and proven supersonic cruise missile and will form the primary weapon on-board these ships,” said the official.

The DAC also approved the procurement of Armoured Recovery Vehicles (ARVs) for the Indian Army’s main battle tank, Arjun. The ARVs are designed and developed by the DRDO and would be manufactured by defence public sector undertaking BEML, the official said. PTI

Ajay Banerjee
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, November 29

The issue of rank parity between the armed forces and the civilian cadre has again surfaced. In a latest communication, the Army said ‘no cognisance’ has to be taken of a letter appointing civilian officers on several senior positions within armed forces.

A letter was written on November 26 by the administration and coordination branch of the Army in response to one written by the Joint Secretary and the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) informing about the redistribution of posts from among the Armed Forces Headquarters, called the AFHQ cadre. This comprises civilians who work in the three services. The CAO had written the letter on October 30 to the three service chiefs and appended along lists of appointments.

The Army letter issued now cites a letter dated November 2, 2017, and has asked its various wings to take ‘necessary action’ as per the details mentioned in it. The previous letter had said ‘no cognisance’ should be taken of such communications. It says “it has been observed with concern that the CAO has been writing letters to the service chiefs”.

The CAO, who heads the AFHQ cadre, had issued a letter dated October 30, addressed to the chiefs of the three services. It listed the additional posts and appointments at the level of Additional Director General in separate wings of the armed forces.

This issue was raised in October last year too. The forces had said appointments had been made arbitrarily without consulting the service headquarters. The Principal Personnel Officers Committee on September 22, 2017, pointed out that the Union Cabinet mandates policy matters of the AFHQ cadre be dealt by the PPOC.

The MoD, in its letter earlier this year, said the cadre restructuring of the AFHQ, as approved by the Union Cabinet, would be implemented. Designations will be created in consultation with the armed forces.

Kartarpur, November 28

Pitching for the normalisation of Indo-Pak ties, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan today said his government, the army and all political parties in the country are on the same page to improve ties with India and asserted that all issues, including Kashmir, can be resolved with “strength and will” of leadership of the two countries.

Khan, who will complete 100 days in office on Thursday, laid the foundation stone for the historic Kartarpur corridor linking two revered gurdwaras on both sides of the border here and used the ceremony to reach out to India, favouring steps to improve strained ties.

He said if France and Germany can have close and friendly ties after the bitter history of fiercely fighting with each other, then why can’t India and Pakistan mend their relationship.

Khan mentioned Kashmir as the one major issue between the two countries but did not talk about cross-border terrorism, which India has been maintaining as a major stumbling block for resumption of talks between the two sides.

In New Delhi, the External Affairs Ministry criticised Khan for referring to Kashmir in such a pious ceremony and reminded Pakistan that cross-border terrorism is a major issue.

The event was attended by Union ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and Hasimrat Singh Badal and cricketer-turned politician Navjot Singh Sidhu. Praising Sidhu’s effort for peace between the two countries, Khan said he had become very popular in Pakistan and if he ran in elections here, he would win.

Khan said he understood the happiness of the Sikh community following the decision of both sides to develop the corridor linking Darbar Sahib in Pakistan — the final resting place of Sikh faith’s founder Guru Nanak — with Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India’s Gurdaspur.

“The happiness I see in you today, if I were to explain to my Muslim brother and sisters, is that imagine that you are standing 4 km outside Medina (a city in Saudi Arabia where the Prophet is buried) and cannot go in, and you are then given the chance to go. That is the happiness I see here,” he said. — PTI

Kashmir sole issue

• We have one issue which is Kashmir. Humans have reached the Moon. Which issue can’t be solved? Can’t we solve one issue? We only need determined leadership on both sides. — Imran Khan, Pakistan PM

Regrettable: MEA

• It is deeply regrettable that Pakistan PM chose to politicise the pious occasion meant to realise the long-pending demand of the Sikh community by making unwarranted reference to J&K. — MEA

Imran on Sidhu

• I hope we do not have to wait till Sidhu becomes Wazir-e-Azam… I want a good relationship with India. People want peace… Pakistan will take two steps if India takes one step. — Imran Khan, Pakistan PM

Vijay Mohan
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, November 23

By early next year, the Indian Air Force could be having a new indigenously produced bomb for use against high-vale targets like airfields, railway yards, fortified bunkers and docks.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation has developed a 500-kg class bomb that would be manufactured by the local industry. “The design and development of the bomb has been completed and flight trials from Jaguar aircraft have already been undertaken,” a senior scientist said. “Certain trials of the bomb with the SU-30 fighter have been carried out and the remaining parameters would be evaluated in the coming weeks,” he added. Christened as the ‘500-kg General Purpose Bomb’, it is expected to be inducted into service by coming March or April.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation is looking at the private industry to transfer the technology for its commercial production. This is the heaviest bomb to be designed in the country so far. The bomb primarily consists of two main parts — the main body that would house the warhead and fuze and the tail unit with its fin assembly to stabilise its downward ballistic flight trajectory after release from the mother aircraft.

The bomb, made of specially forged high-grade steel, is about 10-ft in length and a little over a foot in diameter. It is expected to be armed with Torpex-4B type high explosive.

There have been times in history when a single event has triggered a chain such that it led to catastrophic results for the international security situation, something which could not have been ordinarily visualised at the time of occurrence. No better example than that of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife on 28 Jun 1914 in Sarajevo. It led to the First World War which paralysed much of the world for four years and resulted in approximately 15 to 19 million deaths of civilian and military personnel. This is not to say that the murder of Jamal Ahmad Kashoggi at the consulate of Saudi Arabia in Istanbul on 2 Oct 2018 is a parallel to an event such as that which triggered the First World War, nor is it implied that in 2018 the world is heading anywhere near a world war. Yet seldom in recent history has an event unrelated to global politics had an impact which can drastically change the strategic environment of a crucial region of the world, as the Kashoggi killing. The gruesome murder and dismemberment of the body of the veteran US based Saudi journalist just a few weeks ago, at the Saudi consulate purportedly on the orders of Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MbS), is by now too well known to recount here. It has, however, set off a chain of unpredictability which has all portends of a transformative change in international politics the effects of which are yet in drift. It could create immense challenges for the Trump Administration to pursue its policy in the Middle East, a region which it was hoping to stabilize and move on from, towards greater challenges that await it in the Indo Pacific and elsewhere.

          At the core of the issue is the US attempt to create an order in the Middle East which could suitably empower a reasonably reformed Saudi Arabia under its heir apparent,  MbS to counter the perceived growing power of an allegedly rogue Iran. Iran’s dominance of the Levant achieved largely with the help of Russia, the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and the Bashar Assad regime of Syria has already altered the balance of power in the Middle East. The proverbial Shia crescent extending into this sub region militates against the interests of Israel the staunchest US ally. Equally it directly impinges on Saudi interests especially its status in the sectarian conflict between Shia and Sunni Islam in which Saudi Arabia is at the core centre of Sunni interests. After a short period of reticence displayed by former President Obama the US had returned to resuming its special economic and military relationship with the Saudis. Under President Trump this received a further impetus with all stakes placed in the leadership of MbS, the young and bold Crown Prince who displayed all the signs of loosening Saudi ideological and political make up in order to prepare it for a greater strategic role  in a future devoid of energy as its mainstay. With Trump’s known stance against Iran and avowed efforts at bringing regime change in that country he set up the mechanism for a greater US-Israeli-Saudi strategic equation to offset Russian and Iranian gains from the Syrian Civil War. Trump’s son in law Jared Kushner became the US points man and his special relationship with MbS and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu was the cornerstone of the US policy pursuance to regain the power balance.

With the hand of MbS now reasonably suspect in ordering the killing of Jamal Kashoggi, equations appear getting upset. It all commenced with MbS displaying what analysts suspected were his true colours which are far from the professed reputation of being an ardent reformist and a relative liberal in the maze of Middle Eastern authoritarianism. It’s not as if the US has not supported non democratic forces in the past but its investment in MbS and creation of a new Saudi Arabia was huge. So how does a single murder of a journalist upset the US applecart?

As an ardent supporter of rights and stability the US has always attempted to project the need for a rule based order. Haaretz, the mainstream Israeli newspaper has this to say about the whole affair – “ The Kashoggi murder, beyond obliterating red  lines of immorality, also points to the fundamental unreliability of Saudi Arabia under MbS as a strategic partner”. The focus immediately comes on the almost single point investment of US policy in MbS to play the right cards in the messy game of Middle Eastern politics. Yet even the US, despite many instances of a murky past, cannot easily morally justify its position by continuing with this partnership. Other instances of MbS’ alleged reckless and impulsive attitude come into focus and lend to potential US embarrassment; the fruitless war in Yemen which has created vast suffering of civilians; or even the Qatar blockade which has diverted attention from the strategy of containing Iran; and the severing of relations with Canada over a tweet criticizing Saudi detentions of human rights activists.

President Trump has vainly held on and desisted from direct condemnation of the Prince which would strain relations. He has personal business stakes in Saudi Arabia it is said. However, more importantly it is US business interests which are also at stake. The agreement to sell 110 billion USD worth of weapons was a big achievement being projected by Trump. This could well be under threat with a new political equation in the US legislature now in place; even without that there are Republican Senators who have been the harshest critics of the murky affair.  In fact justification of holding MbS hand for the sake of pursuing strategic interests would become a contentious affair against collective American conscience. A continuation of the relationship with MbS could hurt Trump electorally as there is greater progress in the investigation. The CIA itself appears to be sufficiently convinced to take a public position on the issue sparking what could be one more internal squabble in the US to the detriment of the Administration.

If the US attempts to force King Salman the Saudi monarch to alter the planned succession it would firstly undo a crucial two years of strategic investment and weaken the US  hold over the Middle East. It cannot be overlooked that MbS may not go quietly. By now he has embedded himself powerfully and cultivated the required loyalties. It would cause turbulence in one of the most stable states in the Middle East which holds the key to many other strategic links in the region. The weakening of the US-Israeli-Saudi equation is to Iran’s interest and advantage but it would bring in greater unpredictability in Israel’s stance leading to even greater instability. The ‘Deal of the Century’ that Trump is contemplating about the Israel-Palestine issue would be a non-starter in such a case.

The killing of Kashoggi is unlikely to peter off into a forgotten affair; the ‘Murder on the Bosporus’ has yet to see the emergence of many other hidden linkages which could upset even more equations. It is the rule based and ethical order that the US promotes which would most of all return to pressure President Trump into stronger decisions in the near future. Each such decision would obviously have its own spin off sparking an era of greater uncertainty in the Middle East. 

The new Income Tax department notification says that individuals like the managing director, director, partner, trustee, author, founder, karta, CEO or office-bearer of such entities should also apply for a PAN card, in case they don’t have one, within 31 May of the next financial year.

New Delhi: To prevent tax evasion, the Income Tax department has changed PAN card rules with effect from 5 December making it mandatory for all entities doing business worth over Rs 2.5 lakh in a financial year to have a Permanent Account Number. According to a new notification issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes, all entities which made financial transactions of at least Rs 2.5 lakh in a financial year must apply for a PAN card till May 31 of the next financial year.

5 things to know about new PAN card rules:

1. “In the case of a person, being a resident, other than an individual, which enters into a financial transaction of an amount aggregating to two lakh fifty thousand rupees or more in a financial year and which has not been allotted any permanent account number, on or before the 31st day of May immediately following such financial year,” says the new amendment in Income Tax Rules, 1962.

2. The new income tax rule is not meant for individual taxpayers who are not associated with such entities.

3. The new I-T department notification also says that individuals like the managing director, director, partner, trustee, author, founder, karta, chief executive officer or office-bearer of such entities should also apply for a PAN card, in case they don’t have one, within 31 May of the next financial year.

4. “In the case of a person, who is the managing director, director, partner, trustee, author, founder, karta, chief executive officer, principal officer or office-bearer of the person referred to in clause (v) or any person competent to act on behalf of the person referred to in clause (v) and who has not been allotted any permanent account number, on or before the 31st day of May immediately following the financial year in which the person referred to in clause (v) enters into financial transaction specified therein,” reads the amendment.

5. Nangia Advisors LLP Partner Suraj Nangia said that now resident entities shall have to obtain PAN even if the total sales or turnover or gross receipts are not or are not likely to exceed Rs 5 lakh in a financial year. “This will help the income tax department track financial transactions, broaden the tax base and prevent tax evasion,” said the tax expert.

Read: How to apply for PAN card online using Aadhaar

In another development, the Income Tax authorities have made it optional for individual tax payers to give their father’s name in PAN card application forms for those with single parents. If a PAN applicant’s father is deceased or separated, he or she can chose not to mention father’s name at all in the form.

Kra canal is part of the grand design in the waters around India and in the Indian Ocean

Vivek Katju
Ex-Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs

I first heard of the ‘Kra canal’ in Kuala Lumpur 25 years ago where I was posted as the Deputy High Commissioner. A Malaysian geographer friend who was on a team conducting a quiet study on the project’s feasibility told me that the physical construction of the canal which would link the Andaman Sea to the Gulf of Thailand traversing the Kra Isthmus was doable but its economics, domestic politics, and, even more, its geopolitics, were problematic. Clearly, the project was not pursued further by the interested party.

In giving up on the project, the party had followed the example of others who had considered it since it was first imagined in the 17th century by a Thai monarch. Now, however, the situation appears to be changing for a weight of opinion is developing in its favour. China is relentlessly pushing it and has worked hard to foster a strong lobby for it in Thailand. Reports indicate that Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, who had earlier declared that it was not a Thai priority, has asked the country’s National Security Council and the National Economic and Social Development Board to examine it. No doubt the former body will look at its security implications while the latter will consider its economic aspects.

The Kra canal which is expected to take a decade to get completed, will reduce the distance for ships sailing currently via the busy and narrow Malacca Straits from the Persian Gulf to the east by at least 1,200 km. Merchant ships which wish presently to avoid the Malacca Straits have to go further south to the Sunda or the Lombok Straits considerably increasing the distance to the east. Thus, prima facie the Kra canal, which at present estimates will cost around $30 billion — this figure will surely go up — makes sense, but its economic and strategic viability have yet to be fully established. Its Thai proponents argue that its financial viability must take into account both the volume of traffic and the economic activity generated through the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) that will be set up as part of the project.

China is willing to put in the money for the canal but will it be ready to subsidise it for its strategic purposes? That remains to be seen (and is perhaps unlikely because it will become a precedent for unviable BRI projects), despite the strategic advantages that it will bring. The Malacca choke makes China uneasy, for it is not only dependent on West Asian oil which passes through the straits, but also its general trade uses these waters. Hence, the canal alternative is strategically valid.

A principal historical Thai strategic inhibition is that it will notionally ‘separate’ the country’s southern provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat from the rest of the country. Thailand is Buddhist and ethnically Tai but these provinces are Muslim and Malay. They are part of the Malay world but along with some other Malay territories were annexed by an expanding Thai kingdom around 1785. Under the Anglo-Thai treaty of 1909, Thailand relinquished its claims to some Malay territories which are now part of Malaysia and its sovereignty over these provinces was recognised. These provinces have always been restless but have witnessed an insurgency since 2004. Its current intensity is low but alienation is substantial and violent acts continue. More than 6,000 have died in the past 14 years. Thailand can create military installations to the canal’s south to ensure effective counter-terrorism but the way the strategic landscape by the Thai elite is imagined will need to change.

The Kra canal’s impact on ASEAN will go beyond the re-orientation of shipping, though that too will be substantial and adverse on Singapore and to an extent on Malaysian ports. Conversely, some ports in Vietnam may benefit. If the SEZs take off, they will attract investments that would have gone elsewhere. However, Singapore’s attractions as a financial centre and its ability to strengthen itself as a hi-tech base are great, even as it may have to lose its pivotal place as a shipping hub.

The US has not taken an official position on the project but is wary of enhanced Chinese presence in the Indian Ocean. The European states are not concerned with that aspect and look to gaining work for their companies in the project construction. Other countries will not be overly concerned. International civil society and concerned global organisations will look at the canal’s environmental impact more than anything else.

There is no doubt that the Kra canal is part of China’s grand design in the waters that surround India and in the Indian Ocean. It is gaining access or acquiring ports or building bases —Hambantota, Gwadar and the base in Djibouti — and has now signed an agreement to develop the Kyaukphyu port in Myanmar’s troubled Rakhine state. All this is impacting on Indian interests and so will the canal. It would be timely for Indian economic and strategic planners to examine the implications of the canal. Perhaps the process has already begun but it has to be pursued in a holistic and sustained manner.

Indian official agencies and business should engage Thailand on the Kra canal even while the Thai system’s consideration is in the initial stages. While the canal will be built on Thai territory it will impact the interests of many countries, including India. Hence it will be in order to exchange views to make it a win-win, as far as possible, for all. One way to do so would be to ensure that except Thailand no other country is allowed to use it for the passage of its naval vessels. That will assuage strategic apprehensions of the region and beyond.

A peaceful mahatma may prevent a war, but he is certainly not going to win one. This is why it is all the more reason for other members of society to be sensitive in their official and unofficial dealings with the armed forces.

The Bomdila incident has cast an unpleasant shadow over this year’s Deepavali celebrations in military circles. What is known is that two soldiers of the Arunachal Scouts were picked up by the Police because they were allegedly misbehaving at a public event. They were then taken to the Police station. When they were handed over to their unit, they were found to have been severely beaten.Subsequently, the Police Station was allegedly vandalised by the Scouts and police personnel were beaten up. A video later emerged of the Commanding Officer (CO) of the Arunachal Scouts apparently warning a Police Officer to stay away from his men or face dire consequences.

On social media, most of the outrage was targeted at the CO. Many members of the public and those from the Police and civil services fraternity expressed indignance at the tone and tenor of the CO’s words. How, they asked, could an Army officer so brazenly threaten a Police officer and be allowed to get away with it? Especially after his men had apparently vandalised the police station too.

Unfortunately, due process was not followed. In fact, the soldiers were manhandled and roughed up, eventually leading to their hospitalisation. This brings us to the second aspect, that is, the subsequent alleged conduct of the Scouts Battalion and its Commanding Officer. Why they acted the way they did, needs to be understood.

An infantry battalion has been famously stated to be the last hundred metres of foreign policy. The battalion is the largest composite unit to go into active battle, led by its commanding officer. The soldiers know that when they run into a hail of bullets, the only ones beside them will be their fellow soldiers. There is nobody else anywhere to back them up when the proverbial metal meets the meat. The man leading the charge will be the CO. His every action and command would be higher than the word of god for the soldiers of the battalion. Therefore, there is a bond of trust between the soldiers amongst themselves and between the soldiers and the CO. This bond takes years to develop. A commanding officer is usually groomed in the battalion and the regiment for more than fifteen years before he takes charge.

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What this means is that the Commanding Officer knows that he must stand behind his men in peace, so that they might stand behind him in war. This necessarily means that if a man under his command is in anyway ill-treated, it becomes the sacred duty of the CO as embodied in the Chetwode Code to set right that wrong. If this involves actions which skirt the thin line between legality and illegality, then the CO will not hesitate to do it even if it costs him his job. For if he is seen to take a wishy-washy approach when his soldier is beaten up, the faith of his soldiers in his command and leadership would be extinguished that instant. He would know that nobody would follow him anywhere, least of all into battle. Thus, in the present instant, the die was cast when the two soldiers, however guilty they have been of any offence, were roughed up by the Police. This is why the Commanding Officer of 2 Arunachal Scouts allowed things to play out the way they did. If he did not stand up for his men, his moral right to command them would have been over and any future CO would have had to live with the fact that the men of the battalion could never have full faith in their leader.

https://twitter.com/twitter/statuses/1060015304124841985

This ethos may be unfamiliar to many. Many might wonder if these aren’t the ethos of the Police. These aren’t. And for good reason. Uniformed forces differ in their mandate. Militarising the Police is not desirable. The Police perform the daunting task of maintaining law and order and individual Police officers often have to stand alone in facing not only lumpen elements but also inconvenient politicians. The contribution of Policemen to our nation and each of our lives deserves the highest respect. Their lives are not any less important than a soldier’s life.

However, soldiers must necessarily be rough men. A policeman need not be. In a democratic society, the Police is a service and not a force.

A peaceful mahatma may prevent a war, but he is certainly not going to win one. This is why it is all the more reason for other members of society to be sensitive in their official and unofficial dealings with the armed forces.

All this must weigh on the minds of those who are going to sit in judgement over the conduct of the CO of the Scouts Battalion. It is hoped that wisdom will prevail.

(This article was originally published here)

mallufideintent

The author studies law at the Faculty of Law, University of Delhi. He has previously worked with Capital IQ as a Mergers & Acquisitions analyst specialising in the European markets. He actively blogs about law, geopolitics, strategy and current affairs with a focus on security and military matters. He is Anti pro and Pro anti on most matters under the sun.

Ruchika M Khanna
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, November 9

Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has urged Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj to take up with the government of Pakistan the issue of opening of the corridor from Dera Baba Nanak to Sri Kartarpur Sahib.

In a letter to Sushma Swaraj, the Chief Minister said Kartarpur Sahib was one of the most revered religious places for Sikhs as Sri Guru Nanak Dev spent a large part of his life there.

Pointing out that the gurdwara lies around 4 km westwards from Dera Baba Nanak, Gurdaspur, on the Pakistan side, he said the Punjab government had, time and again, requested the Union government to take up with issue with Pakistan.

Referring to the 550th birth anniversary of Sri Guru Nanak Dev, the Chief Minister apprised the External Affairs Minister that the Punjab Vidhan Sabha had passed a unanimous resolution on August 27, seeking uninterrupted opening of corridor from Dera Baba Nanak to Sri Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan.

The Chief Minister had earlier also requested Sushma Swaraj, through a letter on August 20 to take up the matter with the government of the neighbouring country.

Meanwhile, MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar, said, “I have to check the contents of the letter. We have taken up the matter of opening up of the border with Pakistan for Sikh pilgrims to go and visit the gurdwara on the other side. We have heard from Pakistan this is something they want to do. But we have not received any official communication from Pakistan that they are keen to work with us on this matter”.