Kartarpur Sahib corridor ceremony: Navjot Sidhu says 'Yes' to Pakistan's invitation; Sushma Swaraj, Captain Amarinder to skip

Kartarpur Sahib corridor ceremony: In his response to Qureshi, the former cricketer wrote, "I look forward to meeting you on this historic occasion. My application for permission to attend is now lodged with MEA."

Congress leader Navjot Sidhu accepted the invitation from Pakistan to attend the opening ceremony of Kartarpur border corridor. (PTI/AFP)

Kartarpur Sahib corridor ceremony: Congress leader Navjot Sidhu on Sunday accepted the invitation from Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi to attend the opening ceremony of Kartarpur border corridor. In his response to Qureshi, the former cricketer wrote, "I look forward to meeting you on this historic occasion. My application for permission to attend is now lodged with MEA." Navjot Singh Sidhu has also written a letter to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj regarding the same.

Responding to invitation of Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi to attend opening ceremony of #KartarpurCorridor corridor,Navjot Singh Sidhu writes "I look forward to meeting you on this historic occasion. My application for permission to attend is now lodged with MEA" pic.twitter.com/4NexsNPtxS

— ANI (@ANI) November 25, 2018

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday invited former Indian cricketer to visit the neighbouring country to attend the ground-breaking ceremony of Kartarpur border corridor with India on November 28. Apart from Sidhu, Pakistan Foreign Minister also invited External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh. However, declining the invitation, Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh snubbed Pakistan and said he cannot travel to the country due to the continued terrorist attacks in his state and killings of Indian soldiers by Pakistan armed forces. Watch video- In a letter to Qureshi, Swaraj thanked her Pakistani counterpart for the invite, and said she was unable to travel to Kartarpur Sahib due to prior commitments including election campaign in Telangana, However, on Saturday she conveyed to Islamabad that Union Ministers Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Hardeep Singh Puri will travel to Pakistan next week for the groundbreaking ceremony of the Kartarpur corridor. Swaraj also hoped that the Pakistan government will expedite the construction of the corridor in order to ensure that "our citizens can pay their respects at the Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib using the corridor as soon as possible". On Thursday, both the countries announced that they would develop the Katarpur corridor in their respective areas, linking India's border district of Gurdaspur with Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan. Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, the final resting place of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev, is located across the Ravi river in Pakistan and is about four kilometres from the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district of Punjab in India. The corridor, once built, will give Indian pilgrims easy access to the shrine. (With inputs from agencies)