Islamabad sources reported that cricketer turned politician Navjot Singh Sidhu loves to court controversies but the latest one, pertaining to his Pakistan visit to attend Imran Khan’s swearing-in ceremony as the Prime Minister of Pakistan, has more to do with actions beyond his control. Accordingly Sidhu, now a Cabinet minister of Punjab, had duly sought clearance from the Centre to be present at the ceremony even though two other invitees, former cricket captains Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev, refrained from accepting the invitation.
Meanwhile for a government whose head, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had paid an impromptu visit to Pakistan to greet his then counterpart Nawaz Sharif, it didn’t seem a big deal. Presently Sidhu landed himself directly in a controversy by hugging Pakistan army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa twice at the function.
Moreover Sidhu said he was not expecting the
announcement of such a gesture and spontaneously hugged General Bajwa for it. Sidhu
told Pakistan media “Imran Khan, my dear friend, has said they will walk two
steps if one step is taken by India that he will make efforts to convince
authorities in India to take that first step, where both the Punjabs can earn
great profit by opening borders”.
