CHANDIGARH: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has invited Punjab local bodies minister Navjot Singh Sidhu for the foundation-laying ceremony of the Kartarpur Sahib corridor.
Confirming the development, Sidhu said: “I received invitation from Pakistan PM Imran Khan and the Pakistan high commission in India has also contacted me to know my itinerary.”
The minister said he would seek permission from chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh and the Government of India to visit the neighbouring country.
Imran will lay the foundation stone for the corridor on the Pakistani side on November 28, while on November 26, President Ram Nath Kovind and Amarinder will do the groundbreaking ceremony on the Indian side.
The move comes a day after India and Pakistan agreed to construct the corridor on their respective sides so that the Sikh devotees from India could pay obeisance at Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur.
Earlier this year, Sidhu landed in a controversy after his Islamabad visit on a personal invitation to attend Imran’s swearing-in as PM on August 18 when he hugged Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Bajwa.
Later, justifying his visit , Sidhu said he went there as a messenger of peace and hugged the Pak army chief in an emotional response to the information provided by him that their country is working on a corridor to Kartarpur Sahib.
Islamabad, November 23
Pakistan’s Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry on Friday said Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu would visit the country to attend the ground-breaking ceremony of the Kartarpur corridor, according to a media report on Friday.
Prime Minister Imran Khan will do the ground-breaking ceremony of the facilities at the crossing on the Pakistan side on November 28. Chaudhry confirmed that the former Indian cricketer would visit the country. This will be Sidhu’s second visit to Pakistan this year.
Sidhu told Roznama Express that he has gladly accepted the invitation, sent by Khan for the November 28 event. He said the Pakistani premier was his friend and he would visit the country whenever he was invited by him. “I don’t have words to express my joy,” he said.
A long-pending demand of the Sikh community to build a religious corridor linking India’s border district of Gurdaspur with a historic gurudwara in Pakistan may finally be fulfilled with the two countries announcing that stretches would be developed in their respective areas. — PTIWrites to Sushma
Chandigarh: Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu has written to Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj, saying, “I wish that the Government of India writes formally to Pakistan on visa and other related issues for easy travel of pilgrims once the corridor (Kartarpur) is complete.” TNS
Sidhu writes to Swaraj: ‘Take up visa issue with Pak’
CHANDIGARH: Punjab local bodies minister Navjot Singh Sidhu has requested foreign affairs minister Sushma Swaraj to write formally to Pakistan on visa and other related issues for easy passage for pilgrims, once the proposed Kartarpur corridor is completed.
In a letter to Swaraj, Sidhu said the positive steps taken by both the governments of India and Pakistan to construct the Kartarpur corridor were a source of great relief and happiness for followers of Guru Nanak’s timeless teachings; and for the people of Punjab.
“As we move down this road, and write a new chapter of faith and love for the region, I pray and hope that this enterprise will yield undeniable and implicit change and thaw in the relations that it will build bridges, burn animosity and will act like a soothing balm for the two neighbouring countries,” he said. In the letter, Sidhu has also taken credit.
“During my visit to Pakistan, I was made aware of Pakistan’s intent to open the corridor on the 550th Parkash Utsav celebrations of Guru Nanak. Pakistan foreign affairs minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said that Pakistan Prime Minister, Imran Khan, is set to lay the foundation stone for the corridor on their side on November 28 this year,” he said. He said as a Sikh he was committed to the cause of Punjab and its people.
This has been a long standing demand of the Sikh community across the globe and a step in this direction has brought a new ray of hope among pilgrims who anxiously await to pay obeisance at the historic Gurdwara Sahib across the border, he said.
“A few months ago, I had met you to express my concern that the Government of India must take up this initiative by formally writing to your Pakistan counterparts as this would be a great service to the community,” he said in the letter.
Kapil Dev showcases his book on gurdwaras
Tribune News Service
Sultanpur Lodhi, November 23
Cricketer Kapil Dev, while attending the state government event to mark Parkash Utsav of Guru Nanak here today, presented his book on Sikhism to Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, former PMDr Manmohan Singh and Governor VP Badnore.
Bound in bright red, the book bears a gold inscription marking the title “We the Sikhs around the world”.
The book has been authored by Dev with the help of a Dubai-based friend. It is regarding 100 gurdwaras across the world. It bears photographs and text about these gurdwaras and is based on a concept envisioned by the cricketer himself.
He added, “When you travel across the world and meet people, you realise the importance of Sikhism and the huge impact it has. People have worked so hard to preserve this legacy. So with the help of a friend from Dubai, I began this project to talk about gurdwaras across the world that are doing great work.