External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on Saturday dismissed her Pakistani counterpart’s contention that the Kartarpur corridor had forced New Delhi to engage with Islamabad, saying such remarks showed he had “no respect for Sikh sentiments”.

Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had said that Prime Minister Imran Khan’s “Kartarpur googly” had forced India to send two ministers to the groundbreaking ceremony for the Kartarpur corridor.

“The India which was hesitating to engage was forced to send two of its ministers. They came to Pakistan and engaged with us. We are happy that they came as our message is one of peace,” he said.

n a set of tweets late on Saturday night, Swaraj rejected Qureshi’s contention and said, “Your ‘googly’ remarks in a dramatic manner has exposed none but YOU. This shows that you have no respect for Sikh sentiments. You only play ‘googlies’.

“Let me explain that we were not trapped by your ‘googlies’. Our two Sikh Ministers went to Kartarpur Sahib to offer prayers in the Holy Gurdwara.”

Indian ministers Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Hardeep Singh Puri had participated in the groundbreaking ceremony for the Pakistani section of the Kartarpur corridor on November 28. Qureshi had invited Swaraj to the ceremony but she was unable to attend due to “prior commitments”.

First Published: Dec 01, 2018 23:56 IST