India have called off their planned cricket tour of Pakistan next year amid simmering tension between the nuclear-armed neighbors over last month’s Mumbai attacks, an official said yesterday.
“We received a communication from the government stating that in the present circumstances, it is not feasible to tour Pakistan,” Ratnakar Shetty, the chief executive of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), said.
India has blamed Islamist militants based in Pakistan for last months attacks in India’s financial heart which killed at least 179 people.
The Jan. 13-Feb. 19 tour was to have involved three Tests, five one-day games and a Twenty20 international, but required government approval.
Political commentators said the decision would further harm relations between India and Pakistan, which are both passionate about cricket.
“India is reducing its contact with Pakistan and the cricket tour had to be the first casualty,” political analyst Amulya Ganguli said.
“There is no immediate chance of any improvement of relations between the two countries now,” he said.
Others thought the tour should have gone ahead.
“I wish the tour had gone ahead as it could have generated some goodwill at a time when it is needed the most,” said political commentator Kuldip Nayar.
US and British officials have joined New Delhi in calling Pakistan to do more to stamp out militant groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba, which they blame for the Mumbai attacks, from operating its soil.
They have also urged restraint from India in its response to the attack and offered help in investigations as well as in the fight against militancy in both countries, which have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947.
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