Daily Times

Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa Wednesday termed the opening of Kartarpur corridor a ‘step towards peace’, according to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).

“It’s a step towards peace which our region needs,” he was quoted as saying by ISPR Director General Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor. “Barbed wire at borders is a measure by a sovereign state to check or deny illegal crossings. Corridors and gates are for legal peaceful visitors. So is the case for all our neighbours.”

Prime Minister Imran Khan Wednesday laid the foundation stone of the corridor connecting Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur area of Narowal district with Dera Baba Nanak in India’s Gurdaspur district. Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa also attended the ceremony. The initiative, however, did not apparently go down well with certain quarters of the Indian media. The DG ISPR shared images of an Indian channel purporting a Khalistan activist meeting General Bajwa at the groundbreaking ceremony. The channel flashed the images with incendiary captions, “Pakistan provokes India at Kartarpur ceremony” and “Khalistani extremist Gopal Chawla with Pakistan army chief.”

Pakistan Army hit out at the Indian media for giving twists and turns to the handshaking between General Bajwa and Gopal Chawla. “Indian media taking a myopic view is selectively showing Mr Gopal Chawla meeting COAS.

Published in Daily Times, November 29^th 2018.