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 2016 SAARC Summit was to be held in Islamabad. But after the terrorist attack on an Indian Army camp in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir on September 18 that year, India expressed its inability to participate in the summit
Sidhu said he had been invited by the Pakistan government for the opening ceremony of the corridor, which will connect Darbar Sahib in Pakistan's Kartarpur with Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district in Punjab.
Sidhu, who returned from Pakistan on Sunday, was the only Indian, who attended Khan's swearing-in ceremony.
Imran's uncle Jahangir Khan had played for Patiala, then captained by the Punjab CM's father.
In a letter to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Sidhu said that he had been invited by the Pakistan government for opening ceremony of Kartarpur Sahib corridor on November 9.
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.
It is bound to fail like the earlier ones, again causing Pakistan enormously more damage than to India, points out Shekhar Gupta.
Project Director Atif Majid said so far 86 per cent of the work on the corridor has been completed.
Before hitting the campaign trail, Sunny Deol offered prayers at the Gurdwara Dera Baba Nanak and also had a glimpse of historic Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib in Narowal district of Pakistan through binoculars installed at the 'darshan sthal'.
On his meeting with General Bajwa, the Congress leader said, "On his meeting with General Bajwa, Sidhu said, "I again want to make it clear that this meeting took place in Islamabad at a time when Gen Bajwa reached the venue of swearing-in ceremony." "He met me with enthusiasm after seeing me sitting in the first row. Immediately, he told me that they were making efforts to open the corridor from India's Dera Baba Nanak to Kartarpur Sahib, which is about 3 to 3.5 km in Pakistan, to facilitate the pilgrims to pay obeisance on the occasion of 550th 'Prakash Diwas' of Guru Nanak Dev ji."
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.
The defeat of Dhami who led the BJP's campaign against the Congress in the state throws up a big question before the saffron party on the issue of choosing the next chief minister.
In the third of his four-part series that gives a Pakistani perspective on India's politics, society and economy, Amir Mateen recalls an Indian Sikh's lament, "Why does Pakistan not allow us to visit Kartarpur Sahib? It's like Medina to us, the holiest of holy places; how would you feel if Muslims are not allowed to visit Medina or Christians stopped from visiting Jerusalem or the Vatican?"
In the third of his four-part series that gives a Pakistani perspective on India's politics, society and economy, Amir Mateen recalls an Indian Sikh's lament, "Why does Pakistan not allow us to visit Kartarpur Sahib? It's like Medina to us, the holiest of holy places; how would you feel if Muslims are not allowed to visit Medina or Christians stopped from visiting Jerusalem or the Vatican?"
Addressing the Indian diaspora in Bangkok, Prime Minister Modi said his government was working to fulfil those aims that seemed impossible.
Faisal said Pakistan respected all religions and would continue the Kartarpur project to help Sikh pilgrims.
"Let me explain to you that we were not trapped by your 'googlies'. Our two Sikh Ministers went to Kartarpur Sahib to offer prayers in the Holy Gurudwara", she said.
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.
A Foreign Office official told PTI that the eight-member Indian delegation arrived in Lahore at 9.15 am (local time).
Sidhu had attended the ground-breaking ceremony of the Kartarpur Corridor in Pakistan last year.
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.
Reacting cautiously, MEA said an agreement has been signed between the two countries finalising the modalities for visits and India will stick to it.
The meeting lasted for about two hours and a host of issues pertaining to the building of the corridor were discussed, an official said.
The corridor will connect Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur with Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district of Punjab.
Pakistan's foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi tweeted, 'Prime Minister Imran Khan will break ground at Kartarpura facilities on 28 November.'
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.
MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said at a media briefing that the meeting, however, does not indicate any change in India's policy towards Pakistan.
Sidhu visited the revered Gurdwara Darbar Sahib and offered prayers and stressed on 'opening of a new friendship chapter' and trade between the two countries, days after India early this week reopened the visa-free Kartarpur corridor for Sikh pilgrims.
Amarinder Singh told mediapersons that both Kovind and Modi had accepted the Punjab government's invitation to be part of the historic celebrations and that the modalities of their visits would be chalked out after the Kartarpur Corridor opening programme was finalised with Pakistan.
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.
'If the series of instances in the recent past are taken into account -- guns falling silent on the border; vastly reduced cross-border infiltration into J&K; positive approach to meeting Indian demands on the Kartarpur Sahib pilgrimage; resumption of overflight for Indian aircraft; visible disinterest in rhetoric and so on -- Commander Jadhav may see better days in a conceivable future,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
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.
Amarinder Singh described the neighbouring nation's action 'knee-jerk and uncalled for'.
Pakistan is scheduled to open the Kartarpur corridor for Indian Sikh pilgrims on November 9.
'Initiatives taken by the government and security forces had resulted in a drop in the number of local youths being radicalised and taking to insurgency over the last few months.'
Sidhu said 50-100 Congress leaders patted him on his back for the visit.
The Mayawati-led BSP will fight 20 of the 117 assembly seats in Punjab, while the rest will be contested by the SAD.
'That would be very bad for them and suicidal for both the Gandhis and the Congress party.'
Prime Minister Khan said his government was keen to bring the perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai attack to book, asserting that it was in the interest of Pakistan.
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