Punjab CM Amarinder declines Pakistan’s Kartarpur invite, Navjot Sidhu says will attend

Amarinder Singh cited continued terrorist attacks in his state and killings of Indian soldiers by Pakistan armed forces to decline Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s invitation to the Kartarput ground-breaking ceremony.

Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh has declined Pakistan’s invitation to attend the foundation stone laying for the Kartarpur corridor even as his minister Navjot Singh Sidhu has decided to attend the occasion.

ANI Photo

Amarinder Singh cited continued terrorist attacks in his state and killings of Indian soldiers by Pakistan armed forces to decline Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s invitation to the ceremony.

Sidhu, who has earlier visited Pakistan for its Prime Minister Imran Khan’s swearing in ceremony, said his application to attend the event is now lodged with the ministry of external affairs.

Earlier, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj had declined an invitation to her, citing prior commitments and deputed Union ministers Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Hardeep Singh Puri for the event.

On Thursday, India and Pakistan announced they would develop Kartarpur corridor in their respective areas, linking Dera Baba Nanak in Punjab’s Gurdaspur district with the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan.

Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, the final resting place of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev, is located across the Ravi river in Pakistan and is about four kilometres from the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district of Punjab in India.

The corridor, once built, will give Indian pilgrims easy access to the shrine.