Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Saturday said former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will visit the Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara as an “ordinary man” only after the grand opening of the corridor.
“I had invited the former PM of India. I am thankful to him, he wrote me a letter and said, 'I'll come but not as chief guest but an ordinary man.' We'll welcome him even if he comes as an ordinary man,” Qureshi told reporters in Multan.
On October 4, Punjab CM Amarinder Singh had said that the former PM will be part of an all-party jatha (pilgrims' delegation) through the Kartarpur Corridor to the Darbar Sahib gurdwara (Kartarpur gurdwara) in Pakistan to mark the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak.
Pakistan government had earlier this month extended an invitation to Manmohan Singh for the inauguration of the Kartarpur corridor to be held on November 9. Congress sources had said he's not likely to accept the Pakistani invitation.
The corridor will connect Kartarpur Sahib with Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district of Punjab and facilitate visa-free movement of Indian pilgrims.