VK Singh said that the Kartarpur Corridor was a religious issue. (File)
Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh has called for delinking the Mumbai terror attack and Pakistan's Kartarpur Corridor decision, even as he asserted that there has been no change in the government's policy that "talks and terror cannot go together".
Mr Singh, who is in the US to inaugurate 'Passport Seva' projects in New York, Washington DC and Atlanta, was felicitated at a Baltimore Gurdwara in Maryland in recognition of some of the decisions being taken by the Indian government for the Sikh community.
Asked if India can believe what Pakistan has promised on building the Kartarpur Sahib corridor, the minister said on Saturday: "Let's not initially raise doubts (on Pakistan over the corridor). And if they don't do, the whole world will see. Let's delink 26/11 and Kartarpur Sahib".
"Today people have to go to Dera Baba Nanak, stand on the border and look at Kartarpur Sahib. If the devotees can go up to Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara after the construction of the corridor, nothing is better than that. This is a religious issue. It has nothing to do with that (The Indian government's policy that talks and terror cannot go together)," he said in response to a question.
Mr Singh also said that Pakistan's new government, led by Imran Khan will have to prove that it can be trusted. "We are willing to talk and this we laid down in 2014. We are willing to talk on any issue whatsoever provided you create an environment for talks".
India will send Union ministers Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Hardeep Singh Puri to Pakistan next week to attend the Kartarpur Corridor opening ceremony, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Saturday.
Sikhs in the US have hailed the Indian government's decision to build the religious corridor linking border district of Gurdaspur with historic Kartarpur Sahib gurudwara in Pakistan - fulfilling a long pending demand of the community.