'What else I could do,' Navjot Singh Sidhu defends hugging Pakistan Army Chief General Bajwa

After facing backlash for sitting beside Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir President, Masood Khan and hugging Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa during Islamabad visit, Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu on Sunday defended himself.

Upon returning to India after attending the swearing-in ceremony of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, Sidhu said, "If one is invited as a guest of honour somewhere, then they have to sit wherever they are asked to. I was sitting somewhere else but they asked me to sit there."

Further giving clarification on his hug with the Pakistan Army Chief, the Congress leader said, "If someone (Pakistan Army Chief General Bajwa) comes and says that we belong to the same culture and we will open Kartarpur border on Guru Nanak Dev's 550th Prakash Parv, what else I could do?"

Sidhu, who shared space with the PoK President during Khan's oath-taking ceremony and hugged the Pakistan Army Chief, has drawn a flak and strong reactions from several quarters in India.

A row has erupted over Sidhu's hug incident with political parties including the BJP and Congress criticised Congress MP and Punjab Minister.

Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) minority morcha leader Aftab Advani on Saturday demanded ‘capital punishment’ for Sidhu.

Accusing Sidhu of ‘treason’, Advani said that the cricketer-turned-politician's move will never be forgotten and forgiven by the people of India. “Sidhu preferred to attend Imran Khan’s oath-taking ceremony over the funeral of former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee. There’s no place in this country for such people,” he added.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) termed Sidhu's visit as a crime. Addressing the media, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra on Saturday said, "Navjot Singh Sidhu is not just an individual but also a member of a political party and a cabinet minister in the Punjab government. The Congress needs to answer some serious questions in this regard. Navjot must have known that this man is the so-called President of PoK. He should have objected to sitting next to him."

Earlier on Sunday, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh lashed out at Sidhu and said it was 'wrong to show affection to the man who give orders to kill' Indian soldiers.

"As far as hugging the Pakistan Army Chief is concerned I am not in its favour. It was wrong for him to have shown the affection towards the Pakistan Army Chief," Singh was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

"Everyday our jawans are getting martyred. To hug their Chief General Bajwa...I am against this. The fact is that the man should understand that our soldiers are being killed everyday," Singh said.

"My own regiment lost 1 Major & 2 jawans a few months ago & everyday somebody is being shot & whether the man who pulled the trigger is to blame or the man who gives the order which is the chief, and the chief is General Bajwa," he added. 

Sidhu visited Pakistan after he was invited by Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for his oath-taking ceremony on August 18. 

(With ANI inputs)