Pakistan on Thursday said its cricket team for the Twenty20 ICC World Cup series would not reach Kolkata without “government-level” assurances from India.
“We will not send the cricket team, without strong government-backed assurances,” Interior Minister Chaudhary Nisar Ali Khan told a press conference in Islamabad. This is being regarded as Pakistan’s final decision. His comments came a day after Pakistan asked for an “explicit” security guarantee for its cricket team and spectators.
His comments have, however, drawn a strong response from India, with officials suggesting that it was impossible to provide security for Pakistani spectators.
“The venue of the match was shifted from Dharamshala to Kolkata as per the demand of the Pakistan Cricket Board. The Chief Minister of West Bengal has welcomed the move. What more can be done to assure Pakistan of the security measures in place in Kolkata,” an official said, indicating that Pakistan was indulging in grandstanding.
However, diplomatic sources from Pakistan told The Hindu that Islamabad did not want to take any chances.
