CHANDIGARH: Amidst the controversy over minister Navjot Singh Sidhu hugging Pak Army chief Gen Bajwa, Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar on Monday asked the BJP government at the centre to clarify its stand on the issue of getting passage to Kartarpur, which has been a long pending demand of the Sikh community.

Appreciating Sidhu’s initiative he took during his recent visit to Pakistan, Jakhar said, “Now the ball is in the court of the government of India. He said, it is up to the external affairs ministry to take up the matter with the Pakistan government at the diplomatic letter.” He said, it is all the more important in view of the coming 550 year birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev.

The PCC president also took a dig at the Prime Minister Narendera Modi writing a letter to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan . He pointed out, when Dr Manmohan Singh as the Prime Minister wrote such letters to Pakistan leaders, he (Modi) taunted these as “love letters”. Jakhar added that Modi should explain what he has written to Khan and how different his letter is from those he referred to as “love letters”.

Jakhar also congratulated Sidhu for presenting a ‘Kashmiri’ Pashmina shawl to the newly elected Pakistan Prime Minister. “The message should not be lost on any one that Sidhu conveyed with such subtlety yet so strongly -- that Kashmir belongs to us and we are gifting you a Pashmina shawl from there,” Jakhar remarked, while adding, “but you don’t expect the BJP to understand such subtle but powerful messages."

