Visiting Pakistan better than travelling to South India: Sidhu

October 14: Indian former cricketer and present Congress Minister in Punjab, Navjot Singh Sidhu seems to love controversy. Less than two months after courting controversy for hugging Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa at a time when India’s relation with its neighbour were at its lowest, Navjot Sidhu stirred up a fresh controversy on Saturday, when he drew an unwarranted cultural analogy between Pakistan and South India.

He reiterated that he did not regret hugging Pakistan army chief, General Qamar Bajwa. When I go to South India, I can hardly understand a word, except for two or three. I am okay with the food there. I can have dishes like idli but I cannot have South Indian food for long. That culture is totally different. But when I go to Pakistan, they speak Punjabi and English and I can relate to them more, Siddhu said while speaking at the first edition of the Kasauli Literature Festival.

Sidhu further talked about his hug to Army General Bajwa and said that his hug was no conspiracy like the Rafale Deal. He added that Bajwa had informed him about a sweet gesture for the Sikhs, hearing which, he hugged Bajwa.

The BJP had, however, criticized the actions of Sidhu in strong words after its former four-time Member of Parliament showed strong affection for Pakistan and went to the extent of calling him a Pakistani agent.