The leader of a prominent regional political party in Punjab is urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi to use his upcoming visit to the state to reopen a key border corridor to Pakistan.

Sukhbir Singh Badal, president of the Shiromani Akali Dal, asked Modi to announce the reopening of the Kartarpur Corridor during his visit on Friday. The overland passage connects Dera Baba Nanak in India’s Gurdaspur district to the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur, a historic Sikh temple in Pakistan's Narowal district.

Badal also called on the prime minister to reopen the Attari-Wagah land border to resume trade between the two neighbouring nations.

Modi is scheduled to visit Jalandhar on Friday to inaugurate and lay foundation stones for railway and road infrastructure projects valued at 54.7 billion rupees (approximately $850 million CAD).

The Kartarpur Corridor, which allows Sikh pilgrims from India visa-free access to one of their holiest sites, has been shut since May 7 of last year.

The closure came after the Indian military launched "Operation Sindhoor" on April 22, targeting suspected militant camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir following a terrorist attack in Pahalgam.