Sidhu is Likeable, Sometimes He Shoots Before Thinking: Amarinder

Amarinder dubbed the affair initiated by Pakistan on Kartarpur as a “bigger conspiracy” hatched by Pak Army.

Amarinder Singh (left) and Navjot Singh Sidhu (right). 

(Photo: PTI/IANS/Altered by The Quint)

Dubbing the whole affair initiated by Pakistan on the Kartarpur Corridor as a "bigger conspiracy" hatched by the Pakistan Army, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh said the hostile neighbour is trying to revive militancy in Punjab but it will not be allowed to succeed.

Citing that Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa had “broken the news of opening the Kartarpur Corridor to Navjot Singh Sidhu even before Imran Khan was sworn in as their Prime Minister”, Amarinder said the whole affair smacked of a bigger conspiracy.

In an interview with CNN-News18, Amarinder said:

“The opening of the Kartarpur corridor is clearly a game plan of the ISI (Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence). A bigger conspiracy seems to have been hatched by Pakistan Army against India. Pakistan is attempting to revive militancy in Punjab and thus everyone should be wary of all of its overtures, no matter how grand they appear to be.”

Amarinder Singh, Chief Minister, Punjab

‘Imran Khan Making Efforts to Bring Peace, But He Should Prevail Upon Pak Army’

"The Sidhu affair is being unnecessarily hyped and those raising it have clearly failed to see the ISI game plan, said Amarinder, lashing out at the Akalis for branding the Punjab Minister as stooge of the Pakistan Prime Minister," the Chief Minister's spokesperson said in Chandigarh on Sunday, 9 December.

Dismissing the issue as "nothing more than a credit war", Amarinder lambasted the Akalis and the BJP central leadership "for indulging in unwarranted controversy over his (Chief Minister's) relations with Sidhu in a bid to divert public attention from the core issue of Pakistan's continued and deliberate perpetration of terror activities in Punjab with the ultimate aim of destabilising the border state".

The Chief Minister said Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan “is undoubtedly making efforts to bring peace, tranquility and harmony with India”, but at the same time he should also prevail upon the top brass of Pakistani Army to ensure that killings of Indian soldiers at borders are stopped immediately.

Asked why he opted not to go to Pakistan for the ground-breaking ceremony of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor, Amarinder said he declined the invite because he could not think of going there while Indian soldiers and civilians were being killed by the Pakistan Army.

‘Sidhu is a Likeable Person’

On the issue of Navjot Sidhu's visit to Pakistan for the ground-breaking ceremony, the CM said he had told Sidhu that he had declined the invite by writing a letter to the Pakistan Minister for Foreign Affairs, and had also shared a copy of the same on social media.

Despite his advice against going to Pakistan, Sidhu went ahead due to his “friendship with Imran Khan," said the Chief Minister, adding that "this was not unreasonable".

He said that he himself has many friends there, including former Pakistan Punjab CM Parvez Elahi.

"We had been meeting frequently during my previous tenure and Elahi had also been coming to meet me in Patiala," Amarinder said.

Downplaying the controversy around his rumoured feud with Sidhu, Amarinder said Navjot Sidhu is a "likeable person" and he shares warm ties with even Sidhu's parents.

The Chief Minister said that he and Sidhu “were not at loggerheads as reported by the media and he has absolutely no problems with Sidhu in running the government”.

Amarinder said that Sidhu always speaks in a forthright manner and his only problem is that “sometimes he shoots before he thinks”.

Responding to another question regarding Sidhu's remarks that Rahul Gandhi is his captain, the Chief Minister said that this was hardly an issue to be raised as Sidhu has always treated him (Amarinder) as a "fatherly figure".

(This story has been edited for length and clarity.)