Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Sunday rejected Pakistan invitation by its Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi to be present at the ground-breaking (foundation stone laying) ceremony for the Kartarpur Corridor. He responded the invitation and the Chief Minister stated he cannot travel to Pakistan due to the continued terrorist attacks in his state and killings of Indian armed forces by Pakistan military.

The Punjab CM’s reaction came even as a minister in his Cabinet, Navjot Singh Sidhu stated he was awaiting permission from the Ministry of External Affairs to take a trip to Pakistan to be present at the foundation laying ceremony of Kartarpur Corridor.

Navjot Singh Sidhu in his response to Qureshi’s invitation wrote a letter to the Pakistan minister: "I look forward to meeting you on this historic occasion. My application for permission to attend is now lodged with MEA."

Amarinder Singh’s response came after External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj also declined the invitation due to her prior engagements. Instead, she said, New Delhi will send Union ministers Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Hardeep Singh Puri to Pakistan to attend the ceremony on November 28.

The Pakistan Foreign Minister had declared on Saturday that he had invited Swaraj, Singh and Sidhu to be present at the ceremony at Kartarpur next week. Swaraj wrote to her Pakistani counterpart and said she would not be able to travel to Kartarpur Sahib owing to prior commitments.