Congress leader and Punjab Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu on on Wednesday visited Pakistan for the groundbreaking ceremony of the Kartarpur Sahib corridor. On Friday he gave a clarification on his recent visit to Pakistan even after Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh had objected to his visit.

In a statement to news agency ANI, Sidhu repeated that he had to go to Pakistan as he had already promised them and said he had informed the Punjab chief minister.  

Sidhu said that "Atleast 20 Congress leaders asked me to go, Central leadership asked me to go. Punjab Chief Minister is like my father, I told him that I had already promised them (Pakistan) that I will go," said Sidhu.

Amarinder Singh had declined the invite sent to him for the event by Pakistan and maintained that Sidhu had gone to Pakistan in a personal capacity. According to some media reports, he had even advised Sidhu to re-think his plans of attending the event.

Shidhu received flak for attending the ceremony in his personal capacity. He had come under fire for being photographed with "pro-Khalistan" leader Gopal Singh Chawla in Pakistan. The Congress leader also Chawla was also seen shaking hands with Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa at the Kartarpur ceremony.