CHANDIGARH: Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh has declined Pakistan’s Foreign Minister’s invitation to attend the foundation stone laying for the Kartarpur Corridor on the other side of the border, citing continued terrorist attacks in his state and killings of Indian soldiers by Pak armed forces. But Punjab Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu said he would attend the ground-breaking ceremony.
In a letter to Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Amarinder has welcomed the historic occasion, which he described as the cherished desire of the Sikhs around the world, but said he must most reluctantly, however, regret his inability to be present.
He said his reasons for declining the invitation were twofold. Firstly, not a day passes when Indian soldiers are not killed or wounded on the line of control in Jammu and Kashmir, he said, adding that “Rather than moving towards normalcy these incidents are escalating.”
Secondly, said Amarinder, the ISI has started its nefarious activities within Punjab and since his government was sworn in, in 2017, the state had neutralized 19 ISI armed and controlled modules, and apprehended 81 terrorists.