'Modi is such a Prime Minister who always thinks about Sikhs. All the pending issues of Sikhs, which have not been resolved to date, are being resolved, including the Kartarpur Sahib corridor. There should not be such protests against him, and no Sikh can tolerate this'
In view of the continued requests of the pilgrims regarding the removal of $20 service charge levied by Pakistan per pilgrim per visit, India has once again urged Pakistan to not levy any fee or charges on the pilgrims, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement.
India has strongly condemned Pakistan's recent drone attacks on Indian cities and civilian infrastructure, calling it a "deranged fantasy" and a desperate attempt to deceive the world. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri also accused Pakistan of attacking religious sites, including a gurdwara in Amritsar, in an attempt to give a communal color to the situation. Misri criticized Pakistan's "blatantly farcical denial" of the attacks and said the country is resorting to disinformation tactics.
Shah said the decision reflects the Modi government's immense reverence for Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji and the Sikh community.
Sidhu urged Swaraj to help initiate dialogue with Pakistan on the opening up of the Kartarpur Sahib corridor.
"I condemn is the strongest terms the statement he has made about Sikhs not being able to wear turbans and kadas," the BJP leader from the Sikh community said.
Empowerment of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) with extra territorial jurisdiction and declaration of Maulana Masood Azhar, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and Dawood Ibrahim as terrorists after legislative amendment were counted among its achievements by the MHA, headed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
According to the "do's and don'ts" issued by the ministry of home affairs, children below 13 years and elderly persons of about 75 years and above will have to travel in groups. Eco-friendly material, preferably cloth bags, should be used during the pilgrimage and the surroundings should be kept clean.
Whether it was the MGNREGS or the NFSA or the Aadhaar-based DBT scheme for cash transfer, the Modi government has built on the basic architecture created by the Singh government. Policy makers in the Modi government, instead of discarding them as products of the previous political regime, worked on them, expanded their scope and reach, and used new tools to improve their performance, explains A K Bhattacharya.
The ministry of external affairs said India received representations from the Sikh community expressing grave concern over the decision to transfer the management and maintenance of the gurudwara from the Pakistan Sikh Gurudwara Prabhandhak Committee to the administrative control of the Evacuee Trust Property Board, a non-Sikh body.
Sidhu had attended the ground-breaking ceremony of the Kartarpur Corridor in Pakistan last year.
Navjot Singh Sidhu was not part of the Channi-led 'jatha' (group) which went to pay obeisance at the gurdwara.
The chief minister said that the Congress will surely take action against Sidhu for his alleged remarks as the party does not believe in indiscipline.
The decision to roll back the farm laws will go a long way in placating the community, which had backed the saffron party wholeheartedly in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls besides the 2017 assembly polls, and may queer the opposition's pitch for forging a social alliance of Jats and several smaller communities with Muslims, another numerically strong group in the region, against the BJP, its leaders hope.
The India-Pakistan ties nose-dived in recent years with no bilateral talks taking place. The ties between the two countries had strained after Pakistan-based terror groups launched attacks in India in 2016.
Pak foreign office said that it was a scuffle between 2 Muslim groups and attempts to paint this incident as a communal issue are 'patently motivated'. It also said that claims of acts of 'desecration and destruction' are not only false but mischievous.
"We believe in peace and we are giving a message of peace from here. But, their generals should understand that we have a large Army and we are prepared..."
Sidhu said 50-100 Congress leaders patted him on his back for the visit.
It is the first meeting between officials of India and Pakistan to discuss the Kartarpur corridor issue, amid heightened tensions between the two nations over the Pulwama terror attack, followed by India's pre-emptive air strike on Jaish-e-Mohammed camps in Balakot and Pakistan's subsequent retaliation.
Kartarpur corridor is a 'corridor of love' and there is no sinister design in it, he said on allegations that the corridor could be used to promote separatism in Punjab.
"It is a matter of disappointment that while understanding has been reached on most of the elements for facilitating the visit of pilgrims from India, Pakistan continues to insist on levying a service fee of $ 20 per pilgrim per visit," the MEA said.
'Now I will see how you escape...'
The Indian government has sent Union ministers Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Hardeep Singh Puri to represent India at the event.
Khalistani separatist Chawla, a close aide of terrorist Hafiz Saeed, is part of the committee, which was not acceptable to India.
In her four-page resignation letter addressed to the prime minister, she said, 'In view of the decision of the government of India to go ahead with the Bill on the issue of marketing of agricultural produce without addressing and removing the apprehensions of farmers and decision of my party, Shiromani Akali Dal, not to be a part of anything that goes against the interest of farmers, I find it impossible to continue to perform my duties as a minister in the union council of ministers.'
The fringe organisation, run by a few radical Sikhs of foreign nationality in the US, Canada, the United Kingdom openly espouses the cause of Khalistan and in that process challenges the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India.
'You can presume that Modi and his party will now focus on the economy.' 'But then, there is the Jharkhand election next month, Delhi soon thereafter and so on.' 'And this isn't a political leadership that takes even a panchayat election lightly,' notes Shekhar Gupta.
'Whatever I did, I did for the farmers and whatever I am doing, I am doing for the country'
She resigned soon after her husband and SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal strongly opposed the bills in Lok Sabha on Thursday night, claiming these proposed legislations will "destroy" the agriculture sector in Punjab, and announced that Harsimrat Kaur Badal will quit the government in protest against these three bills.
In the meeting, which was held in makeshift tents at the Zero point, both the sides discussed timing of completion of bridge, alignment of roads and other engineering aspects of the proposed crossing points.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah asserted that with pro-people measures and infrastructure development, Modi has not only prepared a blueprint for making a strong 'new India' but also a self-reliant one for the country's 'golden future', while party president J P Nadda declared that the period will be known for taking tough and big decisions and turning challenges into opportunities.
Both India and Pakistan have announced that stretches would be developed in their respective areas.
The construction of the Dera Baba Nanak-Kartarpur Sahib corridor across the India-Pakistan border has been likened to the fall of the Berlin Wall by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Here's why the corridor is important.
In a letter to Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Singh said it is a historic occasion, but regretted his inability to be present.
Modi took on Gandhi for mocking him for chanting 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' at every meeting. The prime minister said he will continue to do so despite Gandhi's 'fatwa' on it.
India slams the Pakistani prime minister for 'unwarranted reference to J&K' during pious occasion.
Sidhu said that the corridor would promote peace and erase "enmity" between India and Pakistan and create infinite possibilities between them, including the resumption of cricket ties.
'Rahul is misguided by a handful of family retainers who don't want him to show unrestrained initiative in forming allies.' says Sudhir Bisht.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances