Former PM would not attend the inauguration ceremony of the Kartarpur Corridor in Pakistan but would go there as a common pilgrim, sources close to him said.
Former Prime Minister and Congress leader Manmohan Singh. (File Photo: IANS)
Former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would not attend the inauguration ceremony of the Kartarpur Corridor in Pakistan, sources close to him said on Sunday. But he would go there as a common pilgrim.
Earlier, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that Singh has accepted the invitation to attend the scheduled opening.
On Saturday, Qureshi told reporters in Multan, Pakistan that Manmohan Singh has accepted his invitation and would rather attend the scheduled opening on November 9 as a common man than a special guest, Dawn newspaper reported.
Advertisement
In a letter in response to the invite sent to Singh by Pakistani authorities, he said that he would attend the formal inauguration, but would visit the historic shrine as a common pilgrim, sources said.
A Sikh Jatha delegation led by Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh would be travelling to Pakistan to pay obeisance at the shrine and would return on the same day. Singh would be the part of the Jatha.
The corridor will connect the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Punjab with the Gurdwara at Kartarpur, just about four kilometres from the international border. Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of Sikhism, had spent more than 18 years at the Kartarpur gurdwara, located on the banks of the river Ravi. The pilgrimage is to mark the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev beginning next month.
Advertisement
