NEW DELHI: After the ground-breaking ceremony of the Kartarpur Sahib corridor, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh termed the Kartarpur corridor as a conspiracy of Pakistan. Amarinder has said that Kartarpur corridor is ISI’s game plan. CM Amarinder Singh also claimed that Pakistani Army Chief Javed Bajwa had disclosed the news of the opening of the Kartarpur corridor in front of Navjot Singh Sidhu even before Imran Khan took the oath as Prime Minister of Pakistan.

"The opening of the Kartarpur Corridor is clearly a game plan of the ISI," the Chief Minister said. He admitted that Pakistan was attempting to revive militancy in Punjab and thus, everyone should be wary of all of its overtures, no matter how grand they appear to be, an official release, quoting him, said.

Singh said the demand for opening of the Kartarpur Sahib corridor was pending since partition as several holy Sikh shrines (Sri Nankana Sahib, Sri Panja Sahib, Dera Sahib and Kartarpur Sahib) had been left in Pakistan. Even former Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Dr Manmohan Singh had taken up the issue of opening the Kartarpur corridor with Pakistan, he added. The Punjab Chief Minister said he himself had raised the issue with his Pakistan Punjab counterpart Parvez Elahi and with the then President, Parvez Musharraf during his previous tenure as the chief minister.

ALSO READ: Kartarpur corridor: 5 things to know about historic Sikh pilgrimage located in Pakistan

On why he opted not to go to Pakistan for the ground-breaking ceremony of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor, Amarinder said he declined the invite because he could not think of going there while Indian soldiers and civilians were being killed by the Pakistani Army.

Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan is located across the river Ravi, about four kilometres from the Dera Baba Nanak shrine. It was established by the Sikh Guru in 1522. The first gurdwara, Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib, was built here, where Guru Nanak Dev is said to have died. The corridor will facilitate the visa-free travel of Indian Sikh pilgrims to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, is expected to be completed within six months.

(agency inputs)