Pakistan PM Imran Khan shakes hands with Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu during ground breaking ceremony fo... Read More

KARTARPUR SAHIB: Even in the presence of Union ministers Harsimrat Kaur and Hardeep Puri, Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu seemed to walk away with all the credit for the opening of the Kartarpur corridor .

Speaker after speaker at the event applauded Sidhu's role with a Pakistan minister even declaring that if there were more "jhappian (hugs)" between Sidhu and Pakistan army chief Qamar Bajwa, several other outstanding issues between India and Pakistan could get resolved.

Sidhu himself though heaped praise on Pakistan PM Imran Khan , describing him as a "farishta (angel)" for his role in the opening of the corridor. The audience, which included close to 4,000 Indian Sikh pilgrims, frequently responded with cries of "Jo bole so nihal, sat sri akal" to Sidhu's comments.

"Imran Khan is a man who is true to his word. Whenever the history of Kartarpur is written, his name will figure on page 1," said Sidhu, in a speech laced with Punjabi and Urdu couplets.

"Both the governments deserve credit as it takes two to tango. But Imran Sahib has shown that he is not the type of man who will let you down. He has done what we could not achieve in 73 years," added Sidhu.

Sidhu said a lot of damage had already been done to India-Pakistan relations and that Kartarpur had opened many possibilities. "I come from a country where the mind is without fear and the head is held high. Imran Khan yaari nibhata hai," he said.

Sidhu nodded vigorously when Khan later spoke about the possibility of open borders in South Asia to improve trade and to deal with the issue of poverty in the region. Khan said that it was business and trade that had brought countries like Germany and France together.

Khan also brought up the criticism Sidhu had to face in India after his visit to Pakistan for Khan's swearing-in. "Usne kya crime kar diya? Itni tanquid (criticism) kis liye? Pyaar aur dosti ki baat karne ke liye? How else can two nuclear-armed nations live together?" said Khan.

On a lighter note, Khan said that Sidhu's popularity in Pakistan was such that he could win any election in the country.

During the public event which followed, Sidhu was also seated closer to Khan than Indian government representative Kaur. Sidhu had even earlier said that the "real credit" for opening of Kartarpur should go to Khan.

Significantly, even many Indian Sikh pilgrims present at the venue seemed to give credit to Sidhu for what they described as a peace initiative. "He's the one who started it and the two governments followed," said 65-year-old Pooran Singh, who had come from Amritsar.



In Video: Kartarpur ceremony: Navjot Sidhu recites poetry to praise Pak PM Imran Khan