A day after a fuming India condemned Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan for politicising the solemn occasion of opening up of Kartarpur border for Sikh pilgrimage, a picture of Congress leader and Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu surfaced on Thursday standing with Gopal Singh Chawla. The Pakistan-based pro-Khalistan leader posted the picture on Facebook with a caption saying, "with sedu pa g" (With my brother).
Chawla's presence at the event had already raised hackles in New Delhi. Hours earlier, a picture of him shaking hands with Pakistan's army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa had forced a Pakistan army spokesman to clarify that the handshake was basic courtesy. His name had cropped up in the investigations into the grenade attack on the Nirankari Bhawan in Amritsar earlier in November, in which three people were killed. He is the general secretary of the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee and had earlier prevented Indian diplomats from visiting a gurdwara in Lahore.
The incriminating picture prompted the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) to ask the Punjab cabinet minister whether "India was his priority or not". Union Minister for Food Processing Industries Harsimrat Kaur Badal took a jibe at Congress and Sidhu, saying the minister seems to be getting more love and respect from Pakistan than India. "Sidhu was hugging the General who is killing our men," she said. "He even spent three days with him there. Even his photo is out with the terrorist. He has become a Pakistan agent after going there. Rahul Gandhi should clearly state his stand on this."
Badal has been fiercely competing with Sidhu to take credit for opening up the Kartarpur corridor. She was one of the two ministers to represent India at the event, was in the audience when Prime Minister Imran Khan praised Sidhu.
Sidhu down-played his appearance, saying, "They showered love so much there. Every day ten thousands pictures were clicked. Among them who is Chawla or Cheema that I do not know." He added that he must have posed for 5,000 to 10,000 pictures at the event in Pakistan. "When two Punjabis meet, they hug each other. It is normal practice in Punjab," he defended.
Meanwhile, a day after underscoring unanimity within his country's civilian and military leadership for better ties with India, Pakistan PM Imran Khan said it was not in Pakistan's interest to allow anyone to use the country's soil for terrorism. "We can try but the rest is up to India," he told reporters visiting from India. "What else can we do?"
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 "Navjot Singh Sidhu, Gopal Singh Chawla")
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