Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Thursday that Imran Khan bowled a “googly” to ensure Indian government’s presence at the groundbreaking ceremony of the landmark Kartarpur Corridor.
Qureshi’s remarks came a day after External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj categorically ruled out the possibility of resumption of bilateral talks with Pakistan unless Islamabad stops cross-border terror activities against India.
Pakistan earlier invited Swaraj for Wednesday’s ceremony. Swaraj had, however, declined the invite stating that she was unable to travel to Kartarpur Sahib due to prior commitments, including an election campaign in Telangana, and that India will be represented at the ceremony by Union Ministers Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Hardeep Singh Puri.
She also announced that India will not attend the proposed Saarc Summit in Pakistan and there will be no dialogue with Islamabad until it stops sponsoring terrorism.
Read | Welcome Kartarpur corridor, but not enough for talks: Sushma Swaraj asks Pak to stop terror
Swaraj made it clear that New Delhi will not participate in the Saarc summit and it was not responding to an invite from Pakistan for Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the gathering of South Asian leaders.
Though the suggestion for the move went from India years ago, Qureshi said that the opening of the Kartarpur border was a “big achievement” of the Imran Khan government, which on Thursday completed the first 100 days in office after winning the general elections in Pakistan.
Using a cricketing term, Qureshi said, “Imran (Khan) delivered a googly and India sent two ministers to Pakistan.”
A googly is a leg-spinner’s prize weapon, which is almost undetectable.
Despite Islamabad’s inaction against terror groups in Pakistan, Qureshi went on to accuse the Indian government, alleging that it was them that had said they will not engage with Pakistan.
He also alleged that India refused to engage even after Imran Khan wrote a letter to Prime Minister Modi to resume bilateral talks.
India however, had agreed to a meeting between Sushma Swaraj and Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. But the meeting was called off citing the “brutal” killing of three policemen in Jammu and Kashmir and the release of the postal stamps “glorifying” Kashmiri militant Burhan Wani.
Qureshi also said that “Tensions with India are not hidden from anyone, but our approach is people-centric and we need peace for people to prosper. We need peace in order to speed up the development of our country.” He then recalled that “Imran Khan said he will take two steps for every one step India takes.”
Qureshi said that Pakistan’s government has now carved out from scratch the country’s foreign policy priorities. He said the government was committed to having peaceful ties with all neighbours. He also said that Pakistan had set up an institutional framework with Afghanistan to settle all problems.
Earlier on Wednesday, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan laid the foundation stone for the Kartarpur Corridor linking Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan – the final resting place of Guru Nanak Dev – to Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India’s Gurdaspur district to facilitate visa-free movement of Indian Sikh pilgrims.
Vouching for peace, Khan claimed that the Kashmir dispute can be resolved through talks and a healthy respect for humanity.
He said that his government and army were all on the same page with an intent on establishing a “civilised relationship” with India.
Further on, in a tongue-in-cheek comment, Imran Khan wondered why Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu was criticised after he attended the oath-taking ceremony of the Pakistan PM.
The Kartarpur Corridor, which will facilitate the visa-free travel of Indian Sikh pilgrims to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, is expected to be completed within six months.
India had proposed the corridor to Pakistan around 20 years back but was rejected by the latter.
Last week, Pakistan and India announced that they would develop the corridor on their respective side of the border to help Indian pilgrims visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur.
India-Pakistan ties nose-dived in recent years with no bilateral talks taking place. The ties between the two countries had strained after the terror attacks by Pakistan-based groups in 2016.
(With PTI inputs)