Punjab Congress Chief Navjot Singh Sidhu on Saturday expressed happiness over the reopening of Kartarpur Corridor and said this has been made possible with the efforts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistan counterpart Imran Khan.
Mr Sidhu made these remarks at a press conference in Punjab's Gurdaspur after returning from his visit to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, Pakistan.
"The reopening of Kartarpur Sahib Corridor has been made possible with the efforts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan," said Mr Sidhu.
"I request that if you want to change lives in Punjab, we should open the borders (for cross-border trade). Why should we go through Mundra Port, a total of 2,100 km? Why not from here, where it's only 21 km (to Pakistan)," he added.
His visit came after a fresh tussle erupted in Punjab Congress following the exclusion of Mr Sidhu's name from the delegation, led by Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, comprising state cabinet ministers that visited Kartarpur Sahib on Thursday.
The visa-free 4.7-kilometre long Kartarpur Corridor, which links Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan, the final resting place of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev, to Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district of Punjab, reopened on Wednesday. The corridor, which became operational in 2019, was closed in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Earlier, the Imran Khan government of Pakistan praised Mr Sidhu for his role in the opening of the corridor to Sikh pilgrimage site Kartarpur Sahib.
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