Manmohan Singh says Indian cricket team might tour Pakistan in June 2011

The Indian Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, has said that Team India might tour Pakistan to play a bilateral series in June 2011. India would be the first foreign team to visit Pakistan after the Sri Lanka cricket team terror attacks took place in 2009 at Lahore.

According to media reports, the Singh will also visit Pakistan to watch the matches between the two rivals. He added that he desired to continue the dialogue with the Pakistan government with the help of cricket diplomacy. The Indian PM was of the view that resumption of cricketing series between the two arch-rivals would prove fruitful for Pak-India relations.

Indian sources stated that the Indian political parties including Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are of the view that the wounds of Mumbai attacks of 2008 have not been healed yet.

Congress politicians wanted Singh to change the match meeting with the Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani into a summit meeting, in which all issues could be discussed. However, the parties are still considering the decision of sending the team to Pakistan.

According to the Indian Foreign Minister, Somanahalli Krishna, the Commerce Secretary of both the countries will hold talks at the end of April 2011. He also said that security and terrorism issues will always be at the top of the list, which has to be discussed in the meeting.

Somanahalli Krishna expressed, “With Pakistan, we have pursued the path of dialogue to reduce the trust deficit and to resolve all outstanding issues in the hope that we can build a better future for the peoples of both countries. At the same time, we have never abandoned our concerns about the need to eliminate cross-border terrorism.”

Besides all the concerns and issues, the people of both India and Pakistan are looking forward to watch the bilateral series between the two countries. They also hope that the revival of these bilateral cricket ties will help the two nations maintain friendly relations with each other.

The Pakistan government, along with the Pakistan Cricket Board, is awaiting the resumption of bilateral cricket ties.