Pak wants Manmohan at Kartarpur opening

Islamabad, September 30

Pakistan has decided to invite former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to attend the inaugural ceremony of the landmark Kartarpur corridor in November, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Monday.

Pakistan is scheduled to open the Kartarpur Corridor for Indian Sikh pilgrims on November 9, days ahead of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak on November 12.

“The Kartarpur Corridor inauguration is a big programme and Pakistan is preparing for it in a big way,” Qureshi said, noting that Prime Minister Imran Khan has a personal interest in it.

Pakistan has agreed to allow 5,000 Sikh pilgrims from India to visit on a daily basis to the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Narowal through the Kartarpur corridor. “On behalf of the government, as the foreign minister of Pakistan, I invite him to attend the inauguration of the Kartarpur corridor,” said Qureshi, adding that the government also intended to send a formal written invitation to the 87-year-old leader. — PTI

High regard for him

After consultations, Pakistan has decided to invite Manmohan Singh, who we hold in high regard. He will represent the Sikh community. —SM Qureshi, Pak foreign minister

Unlikely to attend

Ex-PM Manmohan Singh’s office said no invite had been received yet. Congress sources, however, said Singh, even if invited, was unlikely to go. “He didn’t go to Pak when he was PM for 10 years, why will he go now?” a Cong leader said. TNS