The decision to open the Kartarpur Sahib shrine to devotees from across the border was taken in good faith, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Sunday.
Mr. Qureshi’s clarification came as India indicated that it would reciprocate Pakistan’s diplomatic outreach without ceding points for either political opponents at home or for hardliners in Islamabad.
“Dragging my comment towards ‘Sikh sentiments’ is a deliberate attempt to misrepresent and mislead. What I said was strictly with reference to bilateral interaction with the Indian Govt. We have deep respect for Sikh sentiments & no amount of distortions or controversies would change it,” Mr Qureshi said in an apparent damage control measure.
Shrine as political tool
Earlier last week, the Foreign Minister described the religious corridor as a “googly” from Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to India.
Mr. Qureshi’s description of the religious event as a googly indicated that Islamabad was willing to use Sikh holy spaces in Pakistan as a tool in the diplomatic tug of war with India.
However, on Sunday, he said the Imran Khan government had undertaken the initiative in “good faith and will carry it out in good faith”.
However, his comments attracted a backlash with Union Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, who represented India at the Kartarpur event, accusing the Minister of hurting Sikh sentiments.
She urged Prime Minister Imran Khan to act “immediately”.
Earlier, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said her Pakistan counterpart’s remarks had revealed the ulterior motives of Islamabad behind the religious event.
“Mr, Foreign Minister of Pakistan, your ‘googly’ remarks in a dramatic manner has exposed none but you. This shows that you have no respect for Sikh sentiments,” Ms Swaraj said.
The Minister was joined by her colleague Hardeep Singh Puri who highlighted that the inauguration of the corridor was a religious occasion and should not be reduced to a laughter challenge, an oblique reference to Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu who credited Pakistan with initiating the “Kartarpur spirit”.
Mr. Sidhu was targeted by BJP president Amit Shah who described the upcoming election in Telangana as one where Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lead his team of nationalists against the Congress and Mr. Sidhu.
This was followed by, Hardeep Singh Puri, who said that Mr Sidhu needs to ponder over the deeper significance of the Pakistani initiative, adding, “I think he’s being used. I am not entirely convinced that the nature of the deep state in Pakistan has changed.”
The position adopted by the Indian ministers indicate that India wants to continue the diplomatic exchanges with Pakistan without allowing space for critics and rivals at home and abroad.
