New Delhi: Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu on Monday met External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in New Delhi and urged her to help initiate dialogue with Pakistan on the opening up of the Kartarpur Sahib corridor. Union minister and Akali leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal, however, claimed that Swaraj “reprimanded” Sidhu for “messing up” the issue of the Kartarpur Sahib corridor dialogue.
Badal also said that Swaraj accused him of “misusing” the political clearance granted to him in visiting Pakistan recently to attend Imran Khan’s swearing-in as prime minister. Sidhu had kicked up a row by hugging Pakistan Army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa and claimed that he did so as Bajwa told him that the Pakistan government was working out the opening of the Kartarpur corridor for Sikh pilgrims from the Indian state of Punjab.
“External Affairs Minister (Swaraj) reprimanded Navjot Sidhu for messing up Kartarpur Sahib corridor dialogue and misusing political clearance granted for private visit by hugging military Chief responsible for killing our soldiers,” Badal said.
even though the Kartarpur issue had been discussed by Swaraj and Sidhu, the Indian government was waiting for an official statement on the matter from Pakistan. The report also said that Swaraj had, in fact, reprimanded Sidhu and told him that his behaviour in Pakistan went beyond the purpose of the visit. Swaraj also said the Kartarpur corridor matter should not be politicised, as it was a sensitive one.
Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh saying that, “Nothing has come from the (Pakistan) government’s side. This issue has been going on for a very long time. If anything comes about, we will let you know.”
Sources said Sidhu met Swaraj along with another senior Congress leader and a former Rajya Sabha MP to discuss the issue with her.
Meanwhile, senior Congress leader Pratap Singh Bajwa on Monday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to initiate talks with Pakistan to transfer the Kartarpur corridor to India in return for an alternate piece of land. In a letter to the prime minister, the Rajya Sabha MP of the Congress asked him to show commitment to Sikhs across the country and give a “worthy gift” to them on the occasion of 550th birth anniversary of the founder of Sikhism — Guru Nanak Dev, that falls next year.
“It is my request that you, sir, initiate bilateral talks with Pakistan on this issue and propose to transfer the Dera Baba Nanak-Kartarpur Sahib corridor to India, in return for an alternate piece of land,” he told the prime minister in his letter.
Bajwa, a former president of the Punjab Congress, said such a deal has historical precedent as in 1962, India swapped land for the area around Hussainiwala in Punjab, which housed the cremation site of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, and Rajguru.
Bureau Report
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