Deal cautiously with Imran government: Punjab CM to Sidhu

CHANDIGARH: Following Pakistan railway minister Sheikh Rashid's statement that Kartarpur corridor was the brainchild of their army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh urged Navjot Singh Sidhu to be more cautious in his dealings with the Imran Khan government.


Amarinder said the admission exposed

Islamabad

's nefarious intent behind the initiative. He requested Sidhu not to allow his friendship with the Pakistan prime minister cloud his judgement, as that could be harmful to India's interests.

Expressing serious concern over the admission by the Pakistan minister, the CM said Rashid had bared the wicked design of Pakistan for mooting the corridor, which India had hoped would emerge as a bridge of peace between the countries.

Commenting on what Rashid shared, that the Pakistani decision to build the corridor was conveyed to then Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu at the time of Imran Khan's swearing-in ceremony, the CM said, "Imran had not even taken over then, yet their army chief had spoken about it to Sidhu. How was it possible unless Bajwa was the one behind the corridor decision," said Amarinder, recalling that he had pointed this out long ago.

The CM also took strong exception to Rashid's remarks that "the corridor would hurt India". Terming it an open threat against India's security and integrity, Amarinder warned Pakistan not to indulge in any misadventure.

"Don't make the mistake of reading weakness in our gratitude for the opening of the corridor," warned the CM, asserting that India would give a befitting response to any bid by Pakistan to attack its borders or its people. Declaring that India would never let Pakistan fulfil its despicable ambitions against the former, he said any such attempt by Islamabad would be met with retaliation of the kind that they would never be able to survive.

The CM recalled that he had all along maintained that while he was happy for the corridor, the threat it posed to our country could not be ignored. The CM had, in fact, been repeatedly urging caution over the matter, warning that Pakistan was trying to win the sympathies of the Sikhs by opening the corridor to further the ISI-backed 'Referendum 2020' agenda.