DERA BABA NANAK, Punjab—The foundation stone for constructing the Indian side of Kartarpur Sahib corridor from Dera Baba Nanak to Indo-Pak border was today laid in village Mann (near Dera Baba Nanak) by the Vice-President of India M. Venkaiah Naidu and the Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh. The duo dignitaries digitally laid the foundation stone of the project on a screen by pressing a button.
Addressing the gathering on this occasion, Vice President of India M. Venkaiah Naidu said that the Kartarpur Corridor will bring people of India and Pakistan closer to each other. “Guru Nanak Dev Ji always spread the message of love and peace. This corridor project will bring both countries and their people closer,” he added.
The Union Highways Minister of India Mr. Nitin Gadkari termed the Kartarpur corridor as a historic step which will help devotees offer prayers at the shrine in Pakistan. He added that the corridor project will be accomplished within four months.
Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh thanked the Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan for taking an initiative to open the corridor of Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib for the Sikhs residing in India.
It is pertinent to note here that the Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan will lay the foundation stone of Pakistani side of the corridor on November 28. The actual part of the corridor lies on the Pakistani side.
Meanwhile, the reality behind the digital inauguration of the project has come to fore. Sources have informed that the Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal had to face a major embarrassment during the event when the Congress legislator Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa strongly opposed the inscription of the names of former Chief Minister Parkash Badal, Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Badal and Union Minister Harsimrat Badal on the foundation stone. Randhawa even announced that he would “boycott” the foundation stone ceremony and even went ahead to put a black tape on the stone where the names of Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, Punjab PWD Minister Vijay Singla and his own (Randhawa) were put.
Taking stock of the situation, the officials of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) immediately removed the foundation stone and replaced it with the digital one
