Sushma Swaraj declines Pakistan’s invitation, names two cabinet ministers

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj once again declined Pakistan’s invite to attend the groundbreaking ceremony of the Kartarpur corridor for Sikh pilgrims citing her busy schedule on the same day.

Instead of attending the event herself, Swaraj named two cabinet ministers Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Hardeep Singh Puri saying that they will be attending the ceremony. She said that she had “prior commitments” at the election campaign in Telangana.

On Saturday, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi also extended the invitation to Punjab CM Amarinder Singh and Navjot Singh Sidhu. The Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu has already accepted the invitation.

“On behalf of Pakistan I have extended an invitation to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Capt Amarinder Singh & Navjot Singh Sidhu to attend the groundbreaking ceremony at Kartarpura on Nov 28, 2018,” Qureshi tweeted.

On behalf of Pakistan I have extended an invitation to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj @SushmaSwaraj ,Capt Amarinder Singh @capt_amarinder & Navjot Singh Sidhu @sherryontopp to attend the groundbreaking ceremony at #Kartarpura on 28 Nov, 2018.#PakistanKartarpuraSpirit

— Shah Mahmood Qureshi (@SMQureshiPTI) November 24, 2018

Thanking Mahmood Qureshi, Swaraj said Union ministers Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Hardeep Puri will travel to Pakistan instead.

I thank HE Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi Foreign Minister of Pakistan for inviting me to attend the groundbreaking ceremony of the Kartarpur Sahib corridor on the Pakistan side of the International boundary on 28 November 2018. /1

— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) November 24, 2018

A long-pending demand of the Sikh community building a religious corridor connecting India’s border district of Gurdaspur with a historic gurudwara in Pakistan is all set to be fulfilled with both the countries announcing that they would develop the stretch.

It is to be noted that Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan will inaugurate the groundbreaking ceremony of the facilities on the Pakistani side on November 28.

Amarinder Singh has invited Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, the speaker of the Assembly in Pakistan’s Punjab province, to attend a similar ceremony on the Indian side on November 26, according to officials here.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday hoped that the Kartarpur corridor would act as a bridge between the peoples of India and Pakistan that might lead to a better future as he referred to the fall of the Berlin Wall to underline the importance of people-to-people contact.

Pakistan Foreign Office on Friday said the “Kartarpur Spirit can be a step forward in the right direction from conflict to cooperation, animosity to peace and enmity to friendship.”

Also read: Union minister Sushma Swaraj says she won’t contest elections in 2019 citing health reasons