UN secretary general visits Kartarpur

The United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres today (Feb 18) visited the Kartarpur gurdwara, the place where Guru Nanak had spent the last part of his life.

The UN top official was briefed on the Kartarpur Corridor, the link allowing Indians to visit the historic gurdwara which was opened in November 2019 in conjunction with Guru Nanak’s 500th birth anniversary.

“I was honoured to visit Pakistan’s newly opened Kartarpur Corridor – a corridor of hope, connecting two key Sikh pilgrimage sites. This is a welcome symbol of interfaith harmony,” he said in a tweet.

During his trip to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, Guterres was briefed about the steps taken by the government to provide for facilities to Sikh community, according to a Pakistan information ministry tweet entry.

Accompanied by Pakistan minister for religious affairs Pir Noorul Haq Qadri, he also visited the community kitchen (langar) at the gurdwara, where he was served a traditional meal of rice and lentils.

The 4.1-km-long Kartarpur corridor has been built from Dera Baba Nanak town in Gurdaspur district of Indian Punjab to Darbar Sahib gurdwara in Pakistan. It was inaugurated on November 9 last year to coincide with the celebrations related to the 550th birth anniversary of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak.

Guru Nanak, the first of the Sikh gurus, spent the last 18 years of his life at Kartarpur.

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Pakistan PM Khan lays foundation stone for long-awaited Kartarpur corridor (Asia Samachar, 28 Nov 2018)