Giving cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu his due, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has extended the first formal invitation to his friend from the cricketing days.
The first invite with serial number 1, from the “Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan for the Inauguration Ceremony of Gurudwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur Corridor, Narowal, Pakistan on Saturday, 9 November, 2019”, through the “High Commission for Pakistan, New Delhi” was sent at Sidhu’s Amritsar residence.
Sidhu’s much talked about visit in August 2018 to attend Imran Khan’s swearing in ceremony had revived the hopes of opening the Kartarpur corridor — a fact acknowledged by Pakistan but apparently not by the Indian Government and his own party.
Notably, Sidhu’s name did not find a place in the list of first batch of pilgrims from India to the Gurudwara Kartrapur Sahib in Pakistan, even as the party has sent the names of all its MLAs and MPs.
Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh had maintained that Sidhu had also been invited to join the all-party ‘jatha’ going from Punjab to Kartarpur Sahib via the corridor on November 9.
“The Deputy Commissioners had contacted the MLAs in their respective districts, and the Amritsar DC had been pursuing the matter with Sidhu’s office, but the latter had failed to respond,” Capt Amarinder had stated.
Already, Sidhu had, through a letter to Punjab Chief Minister Singh and the Union Ministry of External Affairs, sought the permission to visit Pakistan. Amarinder had told that Sidhu’s “request letter” had already been forwarded to the Chief Secretary Karan Avtar Singh for necessary action on the same day.