Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Atal Bihari Vajpayee, three times Indian Prime Minister and torch bearer of ‘Pakistan-India Friendship’, must be smiling in heaven as Pakistan formally laid foundation stone of much awaited Kartarpur corridor this week on Wednesday.

Amid clapping and applause, Prime Minister Imran Khan performed ground breaking of much awaited ‘Kartarpur Corridor’ . Pakistan’s powerful army General Qamar Javed Bajwa and Mr. Navjot Singh Sidhu, an influential Indian politician and Indian Punjab’s cabinet Minister and India dignitaries including two Ministers graced the occasion.

With opening of ‘Kartarpur corridor’ Sikh community of 27million will be able to travel to Gurudwara Darbar Sahib, Kartarpur, without visa.

Situated in Pakistan’s Kartarpur Town, Gurudwara Darbar Sahib is to Sikh community as ‘Mecca and Medina’ are to Muslims worldwide.

Mr. Salman Bashir, Pakistan’s former High Commissioner to India believe opening of ‘Kartarpur corridor’ is a significant initiative taken by Pakistan.

“Opening of the Kartarpur corridor is a significant initiative by Pakistan which if seized by India could help bringing down the tensions and the beginning of some sort of process of normalizing of relations. There is great potential for doing good by each other as it is for persisting with enmity. In the latter case, South Asia as a whole loses,” Salman Bashir, former foreign secretary and country’s former High Commissioner to India, told Daily Times.

Analysts believe Pakistan secured a brownie point by opening of Kartarpur corridor.

“Pakistan made the most out of Kartarpur diplomacy. Imran-led government played its card decently,” Mustansar Abbas, Islamabad based defense and security analyst said when requested for comments.

However, he was not optimistic about India’s response in future.

Interestingly, as Prime Imran Khan performed ground-breaking of Kartarpur corridor in presence of Indian delegates, Indian Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj announced that India will not attend the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) conference if it is held in Pakistan.

Much to the disappointment of Sikh community of million, Ms. Sushma Swaraj brushed off any possibility of improvement in relations between India and Pakistan, despite the opening of the Kartarpur crossing.

“Until and unless Pakistan stops terrorist activities in India, there will be no dialogue and we will not participate in SAARC,” media reports quoted Sushma Swaraj as saying.

However, Prime Minister Imran Khan didn’t care about her remarks. One of his close aid revealed to daily Times that Prime Minister Imran Khan already knew that India’s response will be cold and dry.

“Imran knew Modi-led Indian government has limitations when it comes to ‘Kartarpur corridor’. However, he took the lead only to facilitate Sikh’s community living across the globe,” said a source close to Prime minister Imran Khan.

Even at ceremony, Prime Minister Imran Khan expressed his feelings for Sikh community openly.

“I can see happiness on the faces of Sikh community Today. They look happy and content like what the Muslim feel in Mecca and Medina. We will develop the corridor to provide the pilgrims with facilities of International standard,” Khan said.

Mr. Navjot Sigh Sidhu, cricket-turned politician and Indian Punjab’s cabinet Minister stole the show by giving a flying kiss to Pakistanis including the Prime Minister Imran Khan and army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa for accepting years-old demand of Sikh community—-opening of Kartarpur crossing at Pakistan-India International border.

“A dream has come true finally. It’s a great day for Sikh community of 120 million. We are grateful to Imran Khan for giving us what we have been aspiring for long time,” Navjot Singh Sidhu told Daily Times.

It is worth noting that Navjot Singh Sidhu travelled to Pakistan only to attend ground breaking ceremony of ‘Kartarpur corridor’ despite the fact that Chief minister of Indian Punjab asked him to reconsider his decision (of going to Pakistan).

Back in India, national secretary of ruling BJP Tarun Chugh has criticized Sidhu for disobeying his Chief Minister.

“Sidhu is such a minister who does not listen to his own chief minister. He should have obeyed his CM who asked him to reconsider his decision of going to Pakistan,” India media quoted Tarun as saying.

COAS General Qamar Javed Bajwa especially attended the ground breaking ceremony and termed the opening of Kartarpur corridor a “step towards peace”, which the region needed.

“It’s a step towards peace which our region needs,” Pakistani military spokesman Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor quoted him as saying.

“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,” General Bajwa said.

Relationship between Pakistan and India has never been smooth.

World witnessed a short-lived thaw in stormy relations between India and Pakistan when Atal Bihari Vajpayee, India’s three time Prime Minister, took a bus to Lahore in 1999 and hugged his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif leaving an endearing image that symbolised hope in bilateral ties.

Vajpayee, who died on August 16, 2018 at the age of 93 after a prolonged illness, had made a significant diplomatic breakthrough in Indo-Pakistan relationship.

The move was hailed as the dawn of a new era in Indo-Pak relations but proved to be short-lived.

‘Will Sidhu-Imran initiative lost for long’ is a million dollar question.

Published in Daily Times, December 1^st 2018.