This archive report was first published on 9 November 2019.
On November 9, 2019, a rare example of cooperation between India and Pakistan will take place as a secure visa-free corridor opens, allowing pilgrims to travel by road straight into the Kartarpur gurdwara in Pakistan.
The shrine, located in Kartarpur, a small town beside the River Ravi in central Punjab province, is one of the holiest places for up to 30 million Sikhs around the world.
When Pakistan was carved out of colonial India at independence from Britain in 1947, Kartarpur ended up on the eastern side of the border, though most of the region's Sikhs remained on the other side.
For decades, extreme restrictions have been in place due to enmity between India and Pakistan, nuclear arch-rivals who have fought three wars and countless skirmishes since independence.
"This land is sacred for them," Habib Khan, the 63-year-old imam of a small mosque just outside the gurdwara, said in a statement.
At least 700 pilgrims are expected to pass through the corridor on the first day, and more in the coming days.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will see off the first group of pilgrims, and they will be welcomed by his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan at the shrine.
The deal allows for up to 5,000 pilgrims a day to cross.
