Sidhu seeks govt clearance to visit Pakistan
AMRITSAR: Former Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu on Saturday sought permission from external affairs minister S Jaishankar and chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh to visit Pakistan for the inauguration ceremony of the Kartarpur corridor on November 9.
“As a humble Sikh, it shall be a great honour to pay obeisance to our great Guru Baba Nanak on this historic occasion and connect to our roots. Therefore, I may be permitted to visit Pakistan for this auspicious occasion,” said Sidhu in separate letters written to the external affairs minister and the CM.
Sidhu, who has received invitation from Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to attend the ceremony, had courted controversy in August last year when he hugged Pakistan army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa at the oathtaking ceremony of Imran.
He had also attended the ground-breaking ceremony of the corridor in Pakistan.
Sidhu’s request for permission comes two days after the external affairs ministry said that those invited by Pakistan will have to get a political clearance under the rules. Talking to the media here, former minister’s wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu said her husband will certainly go to Pakistan if he gets the required clearances.
WIFE BACKS CM OVER PARKASH PURB EVENT
Over the deadlock over holding a joint function at Sultanpur Lodhi for the celebrations of 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, Kaur said, “The CM has been trying his best for holding a joint function. The state government has the prerogative to hold any such programme. It should have been done as per the CM’S order. No one should have any doubt in