Pakistan and India have renewed their agreement to facilitate pilgrimages through the Kartarpur Corridor for another five years, the Foreign Office said on Tuesday.

The FO announced that the agreement, originally signed on October 24, 2019, allows for the facilitation of Indian pilgrims visiting Gurudwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur in Narowal, Pakistan.

The initial agreement was set to expire this Thursday.

The renewal of the agreement reflects Pakistan’s ongoing commitment to promoting interfaith harmony and peaceful coexistence. It continues to provide visa-free access for Indian pilgrims, allowing them to visit the sacred Gurudwara, where Baba Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, spent his final days.

Since its establishment, the Kartarpur Corridor has enabled thousands of worshippers to visit this sacred site, the Foreign Office stated.

The corridor fulfills the long-held desires of the Sikh community for access to one of their most significant religious landmarks and demonstrates Pakistan’s commitment to protecting the rights of religious minorities.

The initiative has garnered widespread acclaim from the international community, with United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres referring to it as a “corridor of hope.”

Indian Minister for External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar also commented on the matter, stating on social media that “Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government will continue to facilitate our Sikh community’s access to their holy sites.”

For nearly 30 million Sikhs worldwide, Kartarpur is considered one of their holiest places. When Pakistan was created from colonial India during the 1947 independence from Britain, Kartarpur ended up on the western side of the border, while most Sikhs from the region remained in India.