Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday wondered if the Kartarpur corridor would be of any use if Pakistan continued to support cross-border terrorism against India. Puri, who represented the Indian Government at the groundbreaking ceremony of the corridor, said while Kartarpur is a “corridor of hope and goodwill” it cannot be insulated from the ground reality.
The corridor links Darbar Sahib in Pakistan — the final resting place of Sikh faith’s founder Guru Nanak — with Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India’s Gurdaspur.
“The fact of the matter is that the ground reality is characterised by one state using terror as an instrument of policy against a neighbouring state,” he said here on the sidelinesof the Cement Manufacturers Association of India’s annual convention here.
Puri, the Union minister of state of Housing and Urban Affairs (independent charge), also said,”Now what use of the corridor would be, if these kind of acts of terrorism or elements which are committed to creating trouble (continue).”
Reiterating the government’s stand on dialogue with Pakistan, he said External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has already gone “on record that terror and talks do not make a good companion”.
“So you cannot have talks when the other side (Pakistan) has terror,” Puri said.
