Time for Govt to renew peace with Pak: Sidhu

Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu, who is in Pakistan for the swearing-in ceremony of newly-elected Prime Minister Imran Khan, on Saturday said that it is about time the Indian government should take a step ahead to establish peace with Islamabad.

Addressing the media in Islamabad, Sidhu said, "It is our duty that we go back and ask our governments to take a step ahead. I hope that if we take one step forward, people here will take two steps forward."

Speaking about his hug with Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, the Congress leader said, "General Bajwa Sahab hugged me and said that it is time for peace. It is my dream as well. Today morning he came up to me and told me that the Pakistan government is thinking of opening a route in Katarpur to mark the 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev."

Earlier today, Sidhu attended the oath-taking ceremony of Prime Minister Imran Khan at the President House. He visited Pakistan after Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) invited him to attend the swearing-in ceremony.

On Thursday, before leaving for Pakistan, Sidhu said that he was going to the other side of the border as a "goodwill ambassador".

"These moments of democratic change in Pakistan are very important. I feel lucky that Imran Khan, being a friend, invited me. It is an honour for me. I am going to Pakistan as a goodwill ambassador. I am going there with the hope that relations between our two nations will improve," Sidhu told media at the Attari-Wagah border.