Islamabad: Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Saturday that former Prime Minister of India Dr Manmohan Singh had accepted Pakistan’s invitation to attend the Kartarpur opening and birth anniversary celebrations of Baba Guru Nanak.
He also said that former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will visit Pakistan as a “yatri” and not as chief guest for the corridor’s opening.
“Pakistan will open the Kartarpur corridor on November 9. I had invited former PM of India Manmohan Singh. I’m thankful to him, he wrote me a letter and said, ‘I’ll come but not as chief guest but an ordinary man.’ We’ll welcome him even if he comes as an ordinary man,” Mr Qureshi said.
Speaking to reporters in Multan, he said that Pakistan had taken maximum steps to facilitate Sikh Yatris who will arrive in Kartarpur to participate in celebrations of birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak.
“Fifteen thousand Sikh Yatris will arrive in Pakistan to attend Baba Guru Nanak’s birth anniversary,” he added.
The Pakistan government had earlier this month extended an invitation to Manmohan Singh for the inauguration of the corridor. However, Congress sources said that the former Prime Minister will not accept the invite.
Talking about other issues, he said that India, he said, “badly failed” in pushing Pakistan into the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) black list owing to Islamabad’s diplomatic efforts. “India’s foreign minister appealed all countries to oppose Pakistan,” he maintained.
Pakistanis, he said, “understand the situation of Kashmir and will not become a part of anarchy.”
The minister said that Prime Minister Imran Khan had the desire to resolve all outstanding issues between Saudi Arabia and Iran through negotiations.
Mr Qureshi said that Pakistan believed in peaceful neighborhood.
Condemning the bomb blasts in a mosque in Nangarhar province of Afghanistan, the foreign minister said Pakistan offer deepest sympathies and condolences over loss of precious lives in the incident.
Mr Qureshi said that every citizen holds right to stage protest but the constitution does not allow any stick-wielding militia.
He said Prime Minister Imran Khan’s step to form a committee to hold talks with Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-l (Fazsl) should be taken positively as negotiations cannot be ruled out of politics.
