Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu on Saturday visited the revered Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan and offered prayers and stressed on "opening of a new friendship chapter" and trade between the two countries, days after India reopened the visa-free Kartarpur corridor for Sikh pilgrims.

The Kartarpur corridor links Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan, the final resting place of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev, with the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district in India's Punjab state. The 4 km-long corridor provides visa free access to Indian Sikh pilgrims to visit the Darbar Sahib.

In the name of Baba Guru Nanak, a new chapter of friendship between the two countries should begin," Sidhu told journalists upon his arrival at the Kartarpur Sahib.

"After the World wars in which millions of people lost their lives, if Europe can open borders on one-visa, has one passport and one currency, why not in this region of ours where we have figures like Bhagat Singh and Maharaja Ranjeet Singh who are revered by everyone? he asked. Sidhu said he wants mutual love between India and Pakistan.

"There is a need to open windows in the walls erected in 74 years (between India and Pakistan), he said, stressing on opening of trade between the two countries.

"There should be trade between two countries," the cricketer-turned-politician said. Sidhu thanked Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan for taking a step to open the corridor. "I am thankful to PM (Imran Khan) for taking the first step and on the other side (India) responded with two steps. I had already said that those favouring the 'laanga' (corridor) would have blessings and those opposing it had no value, he said.

When Kartarpur Corridor Project Management Unit CEO Muhammad Latif welcomed the former Test cricketer at the zero point and extended best wishes to him and his delegation on behalf of the prime minister, Sidhu said, "Imran Khan is my elder brother. I am greatly honoured. He (Khan) gave us a lot of love."

The BJP meanwhile hit out at the Congress after Sidhu reportedly called Pakistan PM his "elder brother" alleging the opposition party sees terror groups like IS and Boko Haram in Hindutva while it finds a "bhai jaan" in Khan.

A purported video of Sidhu being welcomed by a Pakistani official on behalf of Khan has gone viral in which the Congress leader is heard saying Khan was like a "bada bhai" to him and that he loved him a lot. "It is a serious matter of concern for India," BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said as the ruling party seized on the issue to target Congress.

He claimed that there was a larger design at work, and Sidhu's comments were linked to a number of Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, criticising Hindutva.

Referring to Congress leader Salman Khurshid's statement in his latest book, Patra said the opposition party sees terror groups such as the ISIS and the Boko Haram in Hindutva while it finds a "bhai jaan" in Khan.

"It is being done for appeasement politics as the Congress still believes that there is a section in India which will be happy with praise for Pakistan. There are no such people in India though," Patra added.

He noted that Sidhu had praised Khan and Pakistan earlier too and had hugged its army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa during an earlier trip to the neighbouring country.

Noting that Punjab is a border state where Pakistan tries to foment troubles, Patra said it needs a mature and patriotic leadership.

"Sidhu is not right for India and Punjab deserves better than him," he said.

Pakistan's foreign minister had recently described Hindutva as a threat to global security, and he had borrowed the term from Rahul Gandhi, the BJP leader alleged.

To a question about Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi writing a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the farmers' issue, Patra shot back and asked if she also considers Khan an elder brother like Sidhu as she had in the past called the Punjab leader her brother.

Sharing the video, BJP IT department head Amit Malviya tweeted, "Rahul Gandhi's favourite Navjot Singh Sidhu calls Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan his bada bhai . Last time he had hugged Gen Bajwa, Pakistan Army's Chief, heaped praises. Is it any surprise that the Gandhi siblings chose a Pakistan loving Sidhu over veteran Amarinder Singh?"

India had recently opened the Kartarpur Sahib corridor, and a number of pilgrims from Punjab, including politicians, have visited the place on the occasion of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak's birth anniversary.

In November 2019, Prime Minister Khan formally inaugurated the Kartarpur Corridor as part of commemoration of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak at a colourful ceremony, paving the way for Indian Sikh pilgrims to visit one of their religion's holiest sites in Pakistan without needing a visa.