The issue of Kartarpur Sahib came under the limelight after Sidhu visited Pakistan in August to attend the oath-taking ceremony of his cricketer-turned politician friend Khan as the prime minister of the country. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)On the occasion of the Kartarpur Corridor foundation stone-laying ceremony, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan Wednesday in his address condemned the scathing criticism faced by Punjab cabinet minister Navjot Singh Sidhu for attending the former’s oath-taking ceremony.
“I heard there was a lot of criticism of Sidhu when he went back after my oath-taking ceremony. I don’t know why was he criticised. He was just talking about peace & brotherhood. He can come and contest election here in Pakistan’s Punjab, he’ll win,” said Imran Khan.
#WATCH Pakistan PM Imran Khan: I don’t know why was Sidhu criticised (in India). He was just talking about peace. He can come and contest election here in Pakistan, he’ll win. I hope we don’t have to wait for Sidhu to become Indian PM for everlasting friendship b/w our nations. pic.twitter.com/yPdWCJDYAr
— ANI (@ANI) November 28, 2018
The issue of Kartarpur Sahib Corridor came into the limelight after Sidhu visited Pakistan in August to attend the oath-taking ceremony of his cricketer-turned politician friend Khan as the prime minister of the country. India had initially proposed the corridor to Pakistan nearly 20 years ago.
Post Sidhu’s return, he said that Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa had told him that Pakistan was keen and may open a corridor to Kartarpur Sahib.
Last week, both the countries announced that they would develop the corridor on their respective side of the border to help Indian pilgrims visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur. Prime Minister Narendra Modi drew a parallel of the corridor with the Berlin Wall indicating that it might help ease the simmering tension between the neighbouring countries. Pakistan’s External Affairs Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had extended an invite to his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj who thanked him for the invite but could not travel to Kartarpur Sahib due to prior commitments.
