CHANDIGARH, 20 December 2020, (TON): Former Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal has requested the Indian government to listen to the call by Sikh and allow them to freely profess their religion. She requested the Indian External Affairs Ministry to facilitate reopening of Kartarpur corridor at the earliest to allow Sikhs to visit shrine of Guru Nanak Dev at Kartarpur, where he was living as a farmer and ploughed fields for 18 years.

Harsimrat Kaur Badal  who is member of the Committee of External Affairs, expressed her views this week. She said,  "External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar should intervene and take up the issue with the Lands Port Authority of India to get the corridor reopened at the earliest." She added, "I am of the firm view that if the entire country can open up and even Assembly elections can take place, there is no reason why the Kartarpur corridor cannot be reopened. The Pakistan government has opened the corridor for travel nearly two months back. India should follow suit after instituting needed health protocols keeping in mind."

Harsimrat Kaur Badal said that since months pilgrimage sites across the world have been opened after COVID-19 pandemic but government of India is still reluctant to reopen the corridor.