Sidhu gets clearance to travel to Pakistan for Kartarpur Corridor inauguration

New Delhi, Nov 07: Navjot Singh Sidhu has reportedly been cleared to travel to Pakistan and attend Kartarpur Corridor inauguration on November 9.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) invited Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu for the inauguration of Kartarpur Corridor on November 9.

Sidhu last week sought permission from the Union External Affairs Ministry to attend the inaugural ceremony of the Kartarpur corridor in Pakistan. The cricketer-turned-politician also wrote a letter to Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh in this regard.

Sidhu's Pakistan visits have been controversial. Last year, Imran Khan had invited Navjot Singh Sidhu for the foundation stone laying for corridor. Sidhu then attended the function in his personal capacity. Sidhu then courted controversy by hugging Pakistan Army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa. Sidhu had then claimed that Gen Bajwa had told him about "making efforts to open the Kartarpur corridor".

In August, Sidhu's visit to Pakistan for Khan's swearing-in had come under fire from opposition parties for his hug to Pakistan Army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa. Sidhu had claimed that Gen Bajwa had told him about "making efforts to open the Kartarpur corridor".

Sidhu, after returning from Pakistan, urged then External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to send a formal request to Pakistan on the Kartarpur corridor. Sidhu had then said he told Swaraj to request Pakistan to open up a corridor for Sikh pilgrims to visit the Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib. SAD leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal had lashed out at Sidhu, and said that former EAM Swaraj reprimanded Sidhu for " messing up Kartarpur Sahib corridor dialogue and misusing political clearance granted for a private visit by hugging military Chief responsible for killing our soldiers.

In August last year, Sidhu's visit to Pakistan for Khan's swearing-in had come under fire from opposition parties

Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, Pakistan, is considered to be the second holiest site for Sikhism, the first one being Gurdwara Janam Asthan in Pakistan, where Guru Nanak was born.