Lahore (Web Desk): Prominent Indian cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu arrived in Pakistan via Kartarpur corridor on Saturday to attend the birth anniversary celebrations of Baba Guru Nanak Dev Ji.
Upon arrival at Kartarpur Darbar, he was warmly welcomed with garlands and rose petals.
While speaking to media, Punjab Congress chief while speaking to the media called Prime Minister Imran Khan as his elder brother. “He [Imran Khan] has given me a lot of love”, said Sidhu.
On Thursday, Indian Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi, with a group of 30 people including his ministers, were part of the first delegation to visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur on the second day of the reopening of the route, which remained suspended for some 20 months following the COVID-19 outbreak.
Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (PSGPC) president Sardar Ameer Singh greeted and received them on their arrival.
Kartarpur crossing was reopened on Wednesday after more than a year as pilgrimage was suspended in March 2020 due to the COVID-19.
Earlier, the first batch of 28 Indian Sikhs, including women, arrived at the holiest site of Sikhism, while over 2,500 pilgrims arrived via the Wagah border.
Pakistan on Wednesday welcomed Sikhs through the 4.7km visa-free Kartarpur Corridor for Indian Sikhs on the eve of the 552nd birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak.
Pakistan and India signed the Kartarpur corridor agreement in 2019 and Indian pilgrims of all faiths are allowed to undertake round the year visa-free travel through the stretched passage.
Pakistan had reopened the Kartarpur Corridor on June 29, 2020, after a temporary suspension of about three months however Modi led government kept the Corridor closed from its side for nearly 20 months.
Pakistan and India had closed the corridor in March 2020 to curb the spread of the deadly coronavirus pandemic.
On November 16, the Indian authorities announced to reopen the 'peace corridor' amid the 552nd birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak, Sikhism's central figure, that falls on November 19 this year.
