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Navjot Singh Sidhu arrives in Pakistan with special gift for 'friend' Imran Khan

Wearing a blue suit and a pink turban, Sidhu arrived in Lahore via the Wagah border from where he will travel to Islamabad to attend Khan's oath-taking ceremony scheduled for August 18.

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Indian cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday arrived in Lahore to attend the swearing-in ceremony of his friend Imran Khan as Pakistan prime minister.

Wearing a blue suit and a pink turban, Sidhu arrived Lahore via the Wagah border from where he will travel to Islamabad to attend Khan's oath-taking ceremony scheduled for Saturday.

Sidhu used his usual poetic expression while interacting with reporters.
 
Welcoming the "change" in Pakistan's democracy with the election of Khan as prime minister, he said Khan should come forward in peace initiative between the two neighbours.

He said he has brought "a message of love" to Pakistan as a goodwill ambassador of India.

"I have come here not as a politician but as a friend. I have come here to take part in the happiness of my friend (Imran)," he said, adding sportsmen and artistes help bring the people of two sides closer. 

Hindustan jeevay, Pakistan jeevay, he chanted while reading a verse.

Quoting late Vajpayee, he said, If there is a fire at a neighbour's house we get the heat of it. Talking about the qualities of Khan, the former cricketer said: "I have seen Khan converting his weaknesses into his strength. I wish Imran becomes a symbol of prosperity (for his country). 

Replying to a query on the gift he has brought for the former Pakistan Test captain, Sidhu said: I have brought a Kashmiri shawl for Khan sahib. Earlier this week, former Indian cricketers Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev whom Khan had invited on his swearing-in had declined the invitation citing personal engagements. 

Earlier, Pakistan's prime minister-elect Imran Khan called up Sidhu to extend an invitation to his oath-taking ceremony in Islamabad on August 18, the Punjab minister said in a statement.

Khan, the chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI), personally telephoned Sidhu to extend the invitation, according to the statement.

“It's a great honour and I accept the invitation. Men of genius are admired, men of power are feared but men of character are trusted. Khan Sahab is a man of character. He can be trusted," the Punjab minister had said on August 1.

Sidhu said former Indian prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who passed away on Thursday, also talked about peace between the two countries.

(With PTI inputs)

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