Gopal Singh Chawla was filmed meeting the Pak army chief on the sidelines of the event in Kartarpur.
As leaders from both sides talked of peace during the foundation stone laying ceremony of historic Kartarour corridor, a pro-Khalistan leader considered with ties to terrorist Hafiz Saeed was spotted with Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Bajwa.
Gopal Singh Chawla was filmed meeting the Pak army chief on the sidelines of the event in Kartarpur, some 150 kilometres from Lahore. The two men were seen greeting each other warmly.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan laid the foundation stone for a historic corridor connecting Darbar Sahib in Pakistan's Kartarpur - the final resting place of Sikh faith's founder Guru Nanak Dev - with Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India's Gurdaspur district and facilitate visa-free movement of Indian Sikh pilgrims, who will have to just obtain a permit to visit Kartarpur.
Punjab Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu and Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal are representing India at the ceremony.
Chawla's meeting with Bajwa on the sidelines of the event where Imran Khan talked of peace and about moving forward only exposed Pakistan's doublespeak.
"We should learn from our past and not live in it. The past teaches us that we must move forward. But here, we move forward and then we move backwards. We should have the determination and strength to improve our relationships and to live as good neighbours. Today, I am saying that my party, I and my army are all standing together to on one page. We want to move forward. We want a civilised relationship," Khan said during his speech at the event.
"But we have one problem, that of Kashmir. I ask you, we have reached the moon, why can’t we solve this one issue. All we need is just two leaderships on both sides of the border to solve this issue. But it needs determination and a dream,” he added.
All this, while his army chief was meeting a Khalistani leader whose name has cropped in the investigation into Amritsar grenade attack that killed three people earlier this month.
According to an India Today report, intelligence sources said that Chawla was in contact with ISI and Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed to hatch a terror plot. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had blamed ISI-backed Khalistani terrorists for the attack at a Nirankari Mission congregation on November 18.
Saeed had also met Chawla at the Jamaat- ud -Dawah (JuD) office in Nankana Sahib, some 80 kms from Lahore, ahead of the general elections earlier this year. Chawla, Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC) secretary general, had led a Sikh group to meet the US-proscribed terrorist as he tried to woo Sikhs before the elections in which his political outfit fielded several candidates.
Commenting on the meeting of Khalistani leader with Bajwa, Indian Army chief General Bipin Rawat said, "Everybody talks about giving peace a chance. You see what the government said today. This (Kartarpur Corridor) is to be seen in isolation. It shouldn't be linked to anything else."
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