Prime Minister Imran’s fondness for Indian cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu, has been obvious before, but a new video shows just how fond the former is of the latter.
A video of Khan, in which he can be seen asking about Sidhu before the opening of the Kartarpur Corridor on Saturday, has gone viral.
The video was tweeted by Indian journalist Geeta Mohan.
In the video, the prime minister can be heard saying: “Acha hamara woh Sidhu kidhar hai? Main keh raha hoon hamara Sidhu” (“So where is ‘our’ Sidhu? I am saying ‘our’ Sidhu?”) as everyone around him laughs.
The prime minister is then told that the former Indian cricketer was stopped from entering via the Wagah border.
Khan then asks if former Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh had arrived at Kartarpur.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, the prime minister welcomed thousands of Sikh pilgrims into Pakistan.
“There is humanity in the philosophy of Guru Nanak,” he said. “Humanity is what separates human beings from animals. Our God also talks about humanity and our Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was sent as a mercy for all mankind.”
The prime minister congratulated his ministers for working hard on the corridor.
“The FWO (Frontier Works Organisation) and other ministries worked to complete the project in 10 months’ time,” Khan said. “I never knew my government was so capable.”
The prime minister also said that a leader is someone who brings people together, rather than dividing them.
“When I was elected prime minister, I told (Indian Prime Minister Narendra) Modi that our biggest problem was poverty,” he said. “I told him that if we open our borders, then trade will eliminate poverty.”
This picture taken on Saturday shows security personnel escorting Sidhu (centre) as he visits the Shrine of Baba Guru Nanak Dev at Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur.
