23 September, 2026 – Dera Baba Nanak : The Kartarpur Corridor will remain closed to Indian pilgrims amid continuing security concerns following Operation Sindoor, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has said, as the government maintains that the prevailing security situation does not permit its reopening.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has repeatedly said that Operation Sindoor remains an ongoing process.
The pilgrimage route to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan through the Kartarpur Corridor was suspended in May 2025. The government has now reiterated that the security situation prevents the corridor from being reopened.
Sikh religious organisations and MPs have repeatedly urged the Centre to reopen the corridor, citing its deep religious and emotional significance to the Sikh community.
Pakistan has maintained that its side of the corridor remains open and has said that the passage should be kept separate from politics.
The corridor links Dera Baba Nanak in Punjab with Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in the Narowal district of Pakistan.
Recently, the Ministry of External Affairs was asked whether the government had received representations from Sikh community leaders seeking an ‘early reopening’ of the passage in view of its ‘immense religious and emotional significance’.
In response, Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh said the ‘extant security scenario compels the corridor to remain suspended’.
An agreement allowing Indian pilgrims to travel through the corridor was signed on October 24, 2019, for an initial period of five years. The corridor was subsequently suspended in 2025.
The passage was also temporarily suspended in March 2020 as a precautionary measure to contain the spread of Covid-19.
Since its inauguration, the corridor has been used by around 1.3 lakh devotees. It facilitates visa-free, same-day visits to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib.
The corridor was inaugurated in November 2019 to mark the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak. It was widely seen as a people-to-people and cultural bridge between India and Pakistan, despite the strained relations between the two countries.
Its construction had been hailed by many as a potential new chapter in India-Pakistan relations, with hopes that the goodwill generated by the initiative could contribute to improved diplomatic ties. Then-Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had also suggested that the corridor could be a first step towards greater economic ties between the two countries.
The Tribune