Defensive Sidhu says Sushma assured him on Kartarpur corridor
Chandigarh: With two union ministers gunning for him on his hug with the Pakistan Army chief and his claims on passage for Indian pilgrims for the Kartarpur gurdwara, Punjab cabinet minister Navjot Singh Sidhu on Tuesday defended himself saying External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had assured him that a letter would be sent to Islamabad regarding the corridor.
Sidhu said on Tuesday that Sushma Swaraj, whom he met in New Delhi on Saturday, had assured him that the draft regarding a request for the Kartarpur corridor was ready. He claimed that she told him that the letter would be sent to Pakistan soon. However, union Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, in a statement in New Delhi on Tuesday, said that there was no substance in what Sidhu was claiming.
Badal asked Congress President Rahul Gandhi to “tell what action he will take against Congress minister Navjot Sidhu for betraying the people of the country and misusing Sikh sentiments on the Kartarpur corridor issue to hide his traitorous conduct. “It is now clear that there is no Pakistan proposal to open the Kartarpur corridor. The same has been officially announced by Sushma Swaraj.
“Now it is clear that Sidhu deliberately lied to the people and claimed he had received an assurance about opening the Kartarpur corridor from the Pakistan Army chief to ward off criticism for hugging the General.