Navjot Singh Sidhu asks Sushma Swaraj to talk to Pakistan over Kartarpur border
September 10, 2018
In yet another attempt to exhort authorities for initiating talks with Pakistan over the Kartarpur Sahib border, former cricket star of India Navjot Singh Sidhu has written a letter to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.
“When opportunity knocks, kindly step up and open the door,” wrote Sidhu, who is also the local bodies minister of Indian Punjab. “Pakistan has shown a positive intent towards the long pending demand of Kartarpur Sahib Corridor.”
Sidhu also wrote that Sikh pilgrims have been wanting the corridor to be opened since years. But, he added, progress on the matter came when he visited Pakistan for the oath-taking ceremony of Prime Minister Imran.
Even Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said that the corridor would be opened without Sikh pilgrims requiring any visa to visit on the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, Sidhu further said. “…it is time for India to take a positive step on this highly emotional issue.”
About the historic importance of the corridor, Sidhu stated that Sikhs living in India have been relying on visas to visit the holy shrines in Pakistan after the Partition of 1947.
“Among various historial gurudwaras left in Pakistan, Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib is of great significance. This place is where Guru Nanak Dev spent almost 18 years of his life. The Gurudwara Sahib is very close to the international border.”
In his letter, Sidhu has also written that opening of the corridor will be a great news for Sikhs across the world.
The step can break barriers and build bridges between India and Pakistan, despite the neighbours having sour relations for decades, according to him.
The Kartarpur gurdwara is located in Narowal district near the Indian border.
Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa had hinted at opening the border in 2019 for Guru Nanak’s birth anniversary, when he met Sidhu during the latter’s visit to Pakistan.
