Imran Khan has taken the oath as the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan and made a speech of promises.
Is this new gesture a part of his plan to strengthen the Pakistan-India ties?
It could be termed new Pakistan PM Imran Khan’s first gesture to shore up ties with India. His country is contemplating to open the Kartarpur border on eve of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev in November — a long pending demand of Sikhs to connect their three holy places across the borders.
Cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu disclosed this after he had a brief interaction with Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa. “General Bajwa came to me and said we were thinking of opening the Kartarpur route on the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev,” he said, after attending the oath-taking ceremony of Pakistan’s new premier Imran Khan.
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“Without my asking, I received this precious gift. Gen Bajwa hugged me and said they were thinking of opening the Kartarpur route during Guru Nanak’s 550th birth anniversary celebrations. I had been thinking our chief minister (Captain?Amarinder Singh) would take this up with Pakistan, but the general made this gracious gesture on his own. He also said we want peace,” Sidhu said while addressing a press conference alongside Pakistani cricketer Rameez Raja.
Earlier, the Sikh religious body SGPC had petitioned Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh for taking up the issue of an opening up a corridor between Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district and Kartarpur Sahib in Narowal district of Pakistan. At the time of partition out of three historical Gurdwaras close to the border two came to the Indian side and Pakistan got one. Guru Nanak spent his last days in Gurdwara on the Pakistani side. The Gurdwara is visible from the Indian side of the border. India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) is also hosting a massive programme across the globe to mark the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak.
Sidhu hoped a new beginning in the bilateral relations between India and Pakistan. “I had come here with a message of love and I am taking back 100 times more love than what I brought here,” the Punjab minister told reporters after the ceremony. “It’s our duty that we go back and ask our government to take a step ahead and I hope if we take one step forward, people here will take two steps forward,” Sidhu was quoted by Pakistani news channels.
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