Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Sunday declined Pakistan’s invitation to attend the ground-breaking event for the Kartarpur corridor in Pakistan.
Cpt Amarinder Singh cited the continuous terrorist attacks in his state and killings of Indian soldiers by Pakistani armed forces.
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Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu on the other hand will visit Pakistan to attend the Kartarpur border corridor event on Wednesday.
“I look forward to meeting you on this historic occasion. My application for permission to attend is now lodged with MEA,” Mr Sidhu responded to the Pakistani Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
Captain Amarinder in a letter to Mr Qureshi, welcomed the historic occasion, which he described as the cherished desire of the Sikhs around the world, but said he must “most reluctantly regret his inability to be present”.
Captain Amarinder Singh stated his reasons for declining the invitation – not a day passes without Pakistani forces attacking Indian positions in Jammu and Kashmir, and the Pakistani spy agency Inter-Service Intelligence or ISI is trying to create trouble in Punjab.
“The last attack was in Amritsar last Sunday, on a peaceful religious congregation in one of our villages, in which three men were killed and 19, including women and children, were wounded,” Captain Amarinder said.
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The proposed corridor will link Gurdwara Sahib Kartarpur in Pakistan with Dera Baba Nanak in Punjab. “As you will see from the stone laid at Gurdwara Sri Kartarpur Sahib, it was my grandfather Maharaja Bhupindra Singh who carried out flood protection measures from 1920 to 1929 to protect our gurdwara which was being ravaged by floods in the river Ravi each year,” he said.
Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj will also not visit Pakistan but two of her cabinet colleagues will attend it. India will send union ministers Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Hardeep Singh Puri, her office said on Saturday while responding to an invite to her by Islamabad for the event.
(With Agency Inputs)
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