Chandigarh, August 19: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh Sunday ticked off his Cabinet colleague Navjot Singh Sidhu for hugging Pakistan army chief at the swearing-in ceremony of Imran Khan as the prime minister of the neighbouring country, terming his act as “wrong”.
“I think that was wrong for him to have shown the affection he did for the Pakistani army chief,” Amarinder Singh said here, when asked for his comment on Sidhu hugging the Pak Army chief Saturday.
Sidhu, who returned from Pakistan Sunday, was the only Indian, who attended Khan’s swearing-in ceremony on an invitation by the cricketer-turned-politician. Besides hugging Pakistan army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Sidhu was also seen sitting next to the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) President Masood Khan, at the event.
On Sidhu being seated next to the PoK chief, Amarinder, however, gave him the benefit of doubt, saying he might not have known who he was. To another question, Amarinder said Sidhu had gone to Pakistan in his personal capacity.
Sidhu was among the special guests present at the oath-taking ceremony at the Aiwan-e-Sadr (the President House) in Islamabad Saturday on the invitation of Imran Khan. Khan, who famously captained his national cricket team to the World Cup glory in 1992, had invited some of his former teammates and friends to witness his formal accession to the top job in Pakistan.
The BJP and the Akali Dal have also hit out at Sidhu for visiting Pakistan, ignoring the sentiments of the people of his country, mourning the demise of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.