India has proposed dates in the first week of September tofinalise the agreement on operationalising the Kartarpur Corridor in time forthe 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, people familiar with developmentssaid on Thursday.

The meeting on finalising the agreement on the modalities ofthe corridor, which will link Dera Baba Nanak in India’s Gurdaspur district toDarbar Sahib gurdwara at Kartarpur in Pakistan, will be a follow-up to meetingsof technical experts, the people said.

The technical-level meetings have focused on finalising thealignment of the temporary road for the corridor, modalities to exchangeinformation about using the corridor, and modalities to cope with emergencies,including medical cases, they said.

“We have proposed dates in the first week of September for ameeting at Attari to finalise the agreement on modalities for the Kartarpurcorridor,” said a person who didn’t want to be named.

The people further said that work on physical infrastructurefor the corridor, including the passenger terminal building and highway, isprogressing on time. A senior official of the home ministry is chairing regularmeetings of the inter-ministerial empowered group to monitor progress and ensuretimely implementation of state-of-the-art facilities on the Indian side, theyadded.

Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Faisal told aregular news briefing in Islamabad on Thursday that a meeting of technicalexperts of the two sides will be held at the zero point on the internationalborder on August 30.

“India concurred to Pakistan’s proposal and the technicalmeeting on Kartarpur Corridor is being held on August 30 at the zero point,” hesaid, referring to the point at which the Indian and Pakistani sides of thecorridor will converge.

The corridor will facilitate visa-free movement of Indianpilgrims, who will have to obtain a permit to visit Darbar Sahib, built at thespot where Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh religion, spent the last yearsof his life.

Despite tensions over the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’sspecial status, both India and Pakistan have said they are committed to openingthe Kartarpur Corridor in time for the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak inNovember.