Navjot Singh Sidhu may not get political clearance to travel to Pakistan for Kartarpur event

Former
Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu is unlikely to receive political clearance
to travel to Pakistan to participate in the inauguration of the Kartarpur Corridor,
people familiar with developments said on Wednesday.

Sidhu, who
had raised the issue of opening a corridor for Indian pilgrims to visit Durbar
Sahib gurdwara at Kartarpur during the swearing in of Pakistan Prime Minister
Imran Khan last year, has been invited to the opening of the Pakistani section
of the corridor on November 9.

The people
cited above said Sidhu or any other dignitary subject to obtaining political
clearance for foreign travel wouldn’t need such clearance if they travelled to
the gurdwara as ordinary pilgrims through the cross-border corridor on November
9.

Any
dignitary travelling via the corridor after November 9 will have to obtain
political clearance, they said.

The position
adopted by the government suggests that Sidhu is unlikely to be granted
political clearance for travelling to Pakistan on November 9.

Sidhu has requested
permission from the external affairs ministry on two occasions that is on
Wednesday and on Saturday  to attend the
inaugural ceremony of the Kartarpur Corridor in Pakistan.

Pakistan PM
Imran Khan on Friday announced the pilgrims will not require passports to cross
over to Pakistan through the Kartarpur Corridor as long as they possess valid
identity cards. He also waived the $20 service fee for pilgrims.