Can PM Modi be blamed for hugging Nawaz Sharif, says Navjot Singh Sidhu

New Delhi/ Chandigarh/ Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday urged dialogue with India and resolution of all disputes including Kashmir even as he jumped to the defence of beleaguered Congress leader and Punjab Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, saying that those targeting him in India were doing a “great disservice to peace in the subcontinent”.

Sidhu — who visited Pakistan at the invitation of Mr Khan for his oath-taking ceremony — was hailed by the Pakistani PM as an “ambassador of peace”. Mr Sidhu is under fire from the BJP for hugging Pakistan Army chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa at the ceremony.

“To move forward Pakistan and India must (have a) dialogue and resolve their conflicts including Kashmir: The best way to alleviate poverty and uplift the people of the subcontinent is to resolve our differences through dialogue and start trading,” Mr Khan tweeted.

Sidhu, meanwhile, hit back at the BJP, reminding it of trips to that country by former PM Atal Behari Vajpayee and PM Narendra Modi as Prime Ministers. He defended hugging Gen. Bajwa at the swearing-in ceremony of Mr Khan as an “emotional” response on learning that Sikh pilgrims may now be allowed to visit the Kartarpur shrine across the border.