Harsimrat Kaur Badal said that going to Sri Kartarpur Sahib was matter of faith for her.
Highlights
- Harsimrat Kaur Badal said Shah Mahmood Qureshi was highly mistaken
- She said one-upmanship over Kartarpur ground-breaking was uncalled for
- Mr Qureshi said Imran Khan bowled a "googly" to ensure India's presence
A day after Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said Prime Minister Imran Khan bowled a "googly" to ensure India's presence at the ground-breaking ceremony of the Kartarpur Corridor, union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal said he was highly mistaken.
Besides Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, who went to Pakistan on a "personal invitation", Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj had sent union ministers Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Hardeep Singh Puri for the ceremony.
"Going to Sri Kartarpur Sahib was matter of faith for me. Indulging in one-upmanship on this sacred issue is uncalled for. No one was bowled over by any 'googly'. PM Modi and ministers have only respected sentiments of Sikhs by authoring and participating in this noble initiative," Ms Badal tweeted.
While counting the opening of the Kartarpur border as a "big achievement" of the Imran Khan government, which completed 100 days in office on Thursday, Mr Qureshi had said "Imran (Khan) delivered a googly and India sent two ministers to Pakistan".
A googly is a leg-spinner's prize weapon, which is almost undetectable.
Mr Qureshi's remark came after Ms Swaraj ruled out the possibility of resumption of bilateral talks with Pakistan unless Islamabad stops cross-border terror activities against India.
However, Mr Qureshi accused the Indian government of refusing to engage with Pakistan even after Imran Khan wrote a letter to Prime Minister Modi to resume bilateral talks.
India had agreed to a meeting between Sushma Swaraj and Mr Qureshi on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. But following the killings of three policemen in Jammu and Kashmir by Pakistani terrorists, and the release of postage stamps "glorifying" terrorist Burhan Wani by the Pakistan government, India cancelled the talks.
Mr Qureshi said that "tensions with India are not hidden from anyone, but our approach is people-centric and we need peace for people to prosper. We need peace in order to speed up the development of our country."
"Imran Khan also said he will take two steps for every one step India takes," the Pakistani minister added.
The Kartarpur route along the India-Pakistan border is four kilometres from Gurdaspur, Punjab. Once opened, it will allow Sikh pilgrims a direct access to the historic gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, Pakistan.