Dera Baba Nanak (Punjab), Nov 18 : Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Thursday urged the national governments of India and Pakistan to simplify the procedure for obtaining permission to pay obeisance at Gurdwara Sri Kartarpur Sahib. The Chief Minister, while interacting with the media after returning from Sri Kartarpur Sahib, said this is a historic occasion as the corridor has been reopened after the pandemic. However, he said that it is the need of the hour that both the national governments of India and Pakistan should make concerted efforts for simplifying the process to enable pilgrims for obtaining permission to pay reverence at this holy shrine. Channi said it would help facilitate the pilgrims to visit this sacred shrine thereby saving their time, money and energy. Meanwhile, the Chief Minister also said the state government will soon start free buses from across the state to enable the pilgrims to pay obeisance at this sacred place. He said these buses would ply till the corridor to facilitate pilgrims having permission to visit Sri Kartarpur Sahib. Batting for opening of cross-border trade from Punjab borders, the Chief Minister said that both the national governments should deliberate on it to commence trade and commerce through it. He said this will be helpful in ushering a new era of unprecedented progress and prosperity in the state. Besides, giving impetus to economic activity in the region it will also help in improving people to people contact between both the countries. The Chief Minister also thanked the people of Pakistan and the administration for showering lots of love and affection on him and his family during their visit to Sri Kartarpur Sahib. He also expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan for taking this historic initiative of reopening the corridor. Channi said he had been urging the Prime Minister since long to reopen this corridor thereby cherishing longtime aspiration of Sikh 'sangat' to pay reverence at this sacred shrine. /IANS