New Delhi:
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh accepted the invitation of Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh to join the first Jatha to Sri Kartarpur Gurdwara on Nov 9, 2019. This was announced by Amarinder Singh’s media advisor Raveen Thakral on Thursday.
In a tweet, Amarinder Singh’s media advisor Raveen Thakral said, “Former PM Dr Manmohan Singh accepts @capt_amarinder ’s invite to join 1st Jatha to Sri Kartarpur Gurdwara on Nov 9, will also attend Sultanpur Lodhi main event @550yrsGuruNanak.”
Take a look:
Former PM Dr Manmohan Singh accepts @capt_amarinder’s invite to join 1st Jatha to Sri Kartarpur Gurdwara on Nov 9, will also attend Sultanpur Lodhi main event @550yrsGuruNanak pic.twitter.com/cD9rJoZUBT
— Raveen Thukral (@RT_MediaAdvPbCM) October 3, 2019
The development comes after days after Pakistan invited Manmohan Singh to visit Kartarpur Gurdwara on November 9. Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Monday this week had said that his country has decided to invite Singh to attend the inaugural ceremony of the Kartarpur Corridor. However, the former Indian PM has not reacted to Pakistan’s invitation. On the other hand, Manmohan Singh’s office said it has no information about the invite so far.
Meanwhile, senior Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi suggested that an all-party delegation constituted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Manmohan Singh as the head could be sent for the inaugural ceremony of the Kartarpur Corridor after Pakistan decided to invite the former PM for the event.
It is to be noted that the corridor will connect Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur in Pakistan with the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district of Punjab. The corridor will also facilitate visa-free movement of Indian pilgrims, who will only have to obtain a permit to visit the revered Kartarpur Sahib.
Importantly, Pakistan is scheduled to open the Kartarpur Corridor for Indian Sikh pilgrims on November 9. The 550th birth anniversary of first Sikh guru Baba Nanak is on November 12.
