Sidhu urges Sushma Swaraj to initiate dialogue with Pakistan to open Kartarpur Sahib corridor

Sidhu reportedly urged Swaraj to help initiate dialogue with Pakistan on the opening up of the Kartarpur Sahib corridor.

New Delhi, Sep 17: Congress leader and Punjab Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu on Monday met External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and discussed the issue of the Kartarpur Sahib corridor.

Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur is a gurdwara in Kartarpur, Pakistan. It is built on the historic site where Guru Nanak settled and assembled a Sikh community after his missionary travels. Sidhu had raked up the matter even with Pakistan Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa when the former had visited Islamabad for Imran Khan's swearing-in.

Sidhu reportedly urged Swaraj to help initiate dialogue with Pakistan on the opening up of the Kartarpur Sahib corridor.

Sidhu met Swaraj along with another senior Congress leader and a former Rajya Sabha MP to discuss the issue with her, a PTI report said. Sidhu had courted controversy by hugging Pakistan Army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa and claiming that he did so as Bajwa told him that the Pakistan government was working out opening of the Kartarpur corrdidor for Sikh pilgrims from Punjab.

Union Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal, however, said that Swaraj "reprimanded" Sidhu.

"External Affairs Minister reprimands Navjot Sidhu for messing up Kartarpur Sahib corridor dialogue and misusing political clearance granted for private visit by hugging military Chief responsible for killing our soldiers," Harsimrat Kaur Badal said.