Navjot Singh Sidhu bats for trade, ‘new friendship chapter’ between India & Pak as he visits Kartarpur | India News – Rashtra News : Rashtra News
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NEW DELHI: Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu on Saturday offered prayers at the revered Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan. He stressed on “opening of a new friendship chapter” and trade between India and Pakistan.
“In the name of Baba Guru Nanak, a new chapter of friendship between the two countries should begin,” Sidhu said upon his arrival at the Kartarpur Sahib.
This comes days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government decided to re-open the visa-free Kartarpur corridor for Sikh pilgrims from November 17.
“After the World wars in which millions of people lost their lives, if Europe can open borders on one-visa, has one passport and one currency, why not in this region of ours where we have figures like Bhagat Singh and Maharaja Ranjeet Singh who are revered by everyone?” Sidhu asked.
The cricketer-turned politician said he wants mutual love between India and Pakistan. “There is a need to open windows in the walls erected in 74 years (between India and Pakistan),” he said, stressing on opening of trade between the two countries.
“I request that if you want to change Punjab’s life, we should open the borders (for cross-border trade). Why should we go through Mundra Port, a total of 2100 kms? Why not from here, where it’s only 21 kms (to Pakistan),” Sidhu said.
The Kartarpur Corridor links Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan, the final resting place of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev, to Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district. The 4 km-long corridor provides visa free access to Indian Sikh pilgrims to visit the Darbar Sahib.
Pilgrimage to the Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara was suspended in March last year due of the Covid-19 outbreak.
The Punjab Congress chief also thanked Pakistan’s prime minister Imran Khan for taking a step to open the corridor.
“I am thankful to PM (Imran Khan) for taking the first step and on the other side (India) responded with two steps. I had already said that those favouring the ‘laanga’ (corridor) would have blessings and those opposing it had no value,” he said.
When Kartarpur Corridor Project Management Unit CEO Muhammad Latif welcomed the former Test cricketer at the zero point and extended best wishes to him and his delegation on behalf of the prime minister, Sidhu said, “Imran Khan is my elder brother. I am greatly honoured. He (Khan) gave us a lot of love.”
He visited the complex and also offered religious rituals. Sidhu and his delegation members were offered ‘langar’ (food) made from the wheat and vegetables of the fields, which Guru Nanak Dev used to look after.
According to Latif, over 300 Indian Sikhs visited the Kartarpur Sahib on Saturday – the fourth day of the reopening of the route which was suspended for about 20 months following Covid.
Earlier this week, Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi along with 37 others, including his cabinet ministers, and Jagir Kaur, president of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), had visited the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib.
In November 2019, Imran Khan had formally inaugurated the Kartarpur Corridor as part of commemoration of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak at a colourful ceremony, paving the way for Indian Sikh pilgrims to visit one of their religion’s holiest sites in Pakistan without needing a visa.
– With agency inputs
“In the name of Baba Guru Nanak, a new chapter of friendship between the two countries should begin,” Sidhu said upon his arrival at the Kartarpur Sahib.
This comes days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government decided to re-open the visa-free Kartarpur corridor for Sikh pilgrims from November 17.
“After the World wars in which millions of people lost their lives, if Europe can open borders on one-visa, has one passport and one currency, why not in this region of ours where we have figures like Bhagat Singh and Maharaja Ranjeet Singh who are revered by everyone?” Sidhu asked.
The cricketer-turned politician said he wants mutual love between India and Pakistan. “There is a need to open windows in the walls erected in 74 years (between India and Pakistan),” he said, stressing on opening of trade between the two countries.
“I request that if you want to change Punjab’s life, we should open the borders (for cross-border trade). Why should we go through Mundra Port, a total of 2100 kms? Why not from here, where it’s only 21 kms (to Pakistan),” Sidhu said.
The Kartarpur Corridor links Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan, the final resting place of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev, to Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district. The 4 km-long corridor provides visa free access to Indian Sikh pilgrims to visit the Darbar Sahib.
Pilgrimage to the Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara was suspended in March last year due of the Covid-19 outbreak.
The Punjab Congress chief also thanked Pakistan’s prime minister Imran Khan for taking a step to open the corridor.
“I am thankful to PM (Imran Khan) for taking the first step and on the other side (India) responded with two steps. I had already said that those favouring the ‘laanga’ (corridor) would have blessings and those opposing it had no value,” he said.
When Kartarpur Corridor Project Management Unit CEO Muhammad Latif welcomed the former Test cricketer at the zero point and extended best wishes to him and his delegation on behalf of the prime minister, Sidhu said, “Imran Khan is my elder brother. I am greatly honoured. He (Khan) gave us a lot of love.”
He visited the complex and also offered religious rituals. Sidhu and his delegation members were offered ‘langar’ (food) made from the wheat and vegetables of the fields, which Guru Nanak Dev used to look after.
According to Latif, over 300 Indian Sikhs visited the Kartarpur Sahib on Saturday – the fourth day of the reopening of the route which was suspended for about 20 months following Covid.
Earlier this week, Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi along with 37 others, including his cabinet ministers, and Jagir Kaur, president of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), had visited the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib.
In November 2019, Imran Khan had formally inaugurated the Kartarpur Corridor as part of commemoration of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak at a colourful ceremony, paving the way for Indian Sikh pilgrims to visit one of their religion’s holiest sites in Pakistan without needing a visa.
– With agency inputs
( News Source :Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Rashtra News staff and is published from a timesofindia.indiatimes.com feed.)
