Amritsar / Not going to Pak, will visit Kartarpur Sahib via corridor: Punjab CM

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday, 3 October, said he is not accepting Pakistan's invite for the Kartarpur corridor opening, and added that he would be only leading the first all-party jatha (religious group) to the Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara to pay obeisance, reported IANS.

Manmohan Singh Has No Plans to Accept Pak’s Invitation: Amarinder

Amid reports suggesting that Manmohan Singh had accepted Pakistan's invitation to go there for the opening of the Kartarpur corridor, the Punjab chief minister said that he did not believe that the former prime minister had any such plans.

“There is no question of me going and I feel Dr Manmohan Singh will not go as well,” he said, saying that there was a huge difference between visiting Pakistan and going to the historic gurdwara through the corridor, reported IANS.

What We Know

Manmohan Singh had accepted Amarinder Singh's invitation to join the 'jatha', to be led by the chief minister, through the Kartarpur corridor, to pay obeisance at the gurdwara across the border on the occasion of the 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev, an official spokesperson said.

As far as visiting Pakistan is concerned, the chief minister said that he will not go there till Pakistan stops cross-border terrorism.

He said Punjab was the worst sufferer of Pakistan’s cross-border terrorism and he cannot think of going there till it stops terror activities.

The chief minister had, earlier in the day, called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Ram Nath Kovind and former prime minister Manmohan Singh to extend a formal invitation to participate in the main events organised by the state government to mark the historic occasion.

Both Modi and Kovind had accepted the invite, while Manmohan Singh had also agreed to join the ‘jatha’ that would go to the Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara on the opening day of the corridor.

Raveen Thukral, media adviser to the Punjab chief minister, had also tweeted that Manmohan had accepted Amarinder’s invite.

Asked if Pakistan was playing a dirty game over the Kartarpur corridor, the chief minister told the media to put this question to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Pak Decided to Invite Manmohan Singh: Pak FM Qureshi

Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, on Monday, 30 September, had said that Pakistan has decided to invite Manmohan Singh to attend the inaugural ceremony of the Kartarpur Corridor.

However, the former PM’s office had said it had no information about the invite, reported PTI.

Pakistan is scheduled to open the Kartarpur Corridor for Indian Sikh pilgrims on 9 November, days ahead of the 550th birth anniversary of first Sikh guru Baba Nanak on 1 November.

The gurdwara is located in Narowal district of Pakistan's Punjab province. It is near Dera Baba Nanak town in Punjab's Gurdaspur district.

It is a highly revered Sikh shrine where Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev spent 18 years of his life and is his final resting place.