Capt disapproves of hug to Pak army chief, Sidhu defends his act

CHANDIGARH/AMRITSAR : Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Sunday disapproved of his minister Navjot Singh Sidhu’s act of hugging the Pakistan army chief, even as the cricketer-turned-politician strongly defended it.

Amarinder said that it was not a nice gesture and was completely avoidable. “Sidhu should have avoided indulging in such a gesture when Indian soldiers were getting killed every day on the border,” said the chief minister while talking to mediapersons on the sidelines of a photo exhibition in Chandigarh.

Captain, who was responding to questions from reporters on the row over his minister’s visit, said the Pakistan army chief was responsible for the deaths of Indian soldiers and Sidhu should not have shown such niceties towards him. The criticism from the CM came just two hours after Sidhu returned home after attending Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s oath taking ceremony in Islamabad. On his return, the minister justified his action of hugging the Pakistan army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa at the ceremony.

Sidhu, the local government and tourism minister in the Congress government, said how else would he have responded to someone who assured of constructing a corridor from India to historic Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara in the neighbouring country.

“If their army chief assured us to provide corridor for Indian devotees to Kartarpur Sahib on the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, what can be bigger capital than it? Also, if someone comes to me and says we share the same culture what else was I supposed to do?” he said.

This is not the first time Amarinder and he have disagreed. The two have had conflicting views on several policy matters in the state. The minister has been drawing flak from rival parties, particularly the BJP, for his Pakistan visit from the start.

The chief minister, however, dismissed the opposition demand for Sidhu’s resignation as “not important”.

On Sidhu going for Imran Khan’s swearing-in ceremony, he said it was in his personal capacity due to his close relations with the former cricketer from their cricketing days.

In response to a question, Amarinder said he would be meeting his counterparts from Haryana and HP on Monday to discuss the issue of drugs and draw out a joint strategy to combat the problem. “The Haryana CM (Manohar Lal Khattar) called up on Saturday to invite me for the meeting and I have accepted his invitation,” he said.

Sidhu should have avoided indulging in such a gesture when Indian soldiers are getting killed every day on the border CAPT AMARINDER SINGH, Punjab CM