India has cleared plans for 3,000 Sikh pilgrims to visit Pakistan to celebrate the anniversary of the birth in 1469 of the founder of the Sikh religion, Guru Nanak, a report said.
The foreign ministry granted permission for the pilgrims to visit the "gurudwara" or Sikh shrine at Nankana Sahib from November 21 to 30, the Press Trust of India news agency said on Sunday.
The pilgrims will travel by three special trains arranged by Pakistan Railway from the Indian border town of Amritsar on November 21, said Paramjit Singh Chandhok, general secretary of National Sikh Organisation of India.
Nuclear rivals India and Pakistan have been engaged in a peace process since April 2003 when then-Indian prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee offered a "hand of friendship" to Pakistan.
The thaw came after the two sides were at the brink of war in 2002.
A series of so-called confidence-building measures followed.
The two sides are now about to enter a second round of substantive talks: Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz is due in New Delhi for talks on November 22 and 23.
Besides taking part in the anniversary celebrations on November 26, the pilgrims will also visit two other "gurudwaras" in the cities of Rawalpindi and Lahore, the report said. They will return on November 30, PTI said.
Sikhs make up 19 million of India's billion-plus population.