New Delhi: In a massive embarrassment to the Congress party, barely days after Pakistan Army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa spat fire at India saying, “we will avenge the blood flowing at the borders”, its leader Navjot Singh Sidhu hailed Pakistan for “positive intent” by proposing to open a visa corridor to Kartarpur.

Sidhu, a minister in Congress ruled Punjab government, has written a letter to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj asking her to ensure the Kartarpur corridor offer from Pakistan is met with a “positive step” from India.

The letter that is written by Sidhu in his capacity as a minister, starts with a quote saying, “when opportunity knocks, kindly step up and open the door”. The two-page letter is in possession of MyNation.

The crux of the issue is Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara. It is very close to the India-Pakistan border but now falls under Pakistan.

Sidhu said that Pakistan has offered a corridor through which Indians, particularly from the Sikh community, can visit the revered gurdwara without visa complications, if India accepts the offer.

He didn’t stop at that and went on praising the newly-elected Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and his government, whose oath-taking ceremony was attended by him in person.

Sidhu’s praise for Pakistan would not have created a row had its Chief of Army Staff, General Bajwa not spoken about “revenge” in Rawalpindi.

Sidhu sees “positive intent” in a government whose Army Chief said that Pakistan supports people of Jammu and Kashmir in their “struggle for the right to self-determination”, clearly challenging India’s stated position of J&K being an integral part of India.


 
This is not the first time though that the cricketer-turned-politician has red-faced the Congress. Few weeks ago, he hugged the same Bajwa in Pakistan who is now talking about taking “revenge” against India for the deaths at the borders.