Gurdaspur: India's Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu laid the foundation stone for the construction of Dera Baba Nanak - Kartarpur Sahib road Corridor at a function in village Mann in Gurdaspur district of Punjab on Monday. Union minister for road trip and highways Nitin Gadkari, union minister of food processing Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Punjab chief minister Capt Amrinder Singh were present on the occasion.
In the landmark decision, the Union Cabinet had last week approved building and development of Kartarpur corridor from Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district to International Border to commemorate the 550th Birth Anniversary of Guru Nanak Devji in 2019.
Amarinder rejects Pak invitation
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder on Sunday declined Pakistan's invitation to attend the Kartarpur corridor foundation stone-laying ceremony on the other side of the international border, citing terror attacks in his state and killings of Indian soldiers by Pakistan troops as the reason. In a letter to Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Singh said it is a historic occasion, but regretted his inability to be present.
The chief minister said his reason for declining the invitation was two-fold. "Firstly, not a day passes when Indian soldiers are not killed or wounded on the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. Rather than moving towards normalcy, these incidents are escalating," he said. Secondly, the chief minister claimed, Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has started its nefarious activities in Punjab.
"I hope that the prime minister (of Pak) will understand these circumstances... It will not be possible for me to be present in Pakistan on this historic occasion, despite the fact that paying my respects at Gurdwara Sri Kartarpur Sahib has always been my cherished dream which will hopefully be fulfilled once these hostilities and killings are stopped," he said.
His cabinet colleague and former cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu, meanwhile, expressed a desire to accept Pakistan’s invitation but added that he was awaiting go-ahead from the Indian government. “I look forward to meeting you on this historic occasion. My application for permission to attend is now lodged with MEA,” he said.
