Pakistan talks should start with cricket

Sports and Youth Affairs minister Uma Bharti said on Saturday she would like next month's summit talks with Pakistan to begin with discussions on restoring sporting ties between the two nations.

Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Pakistan's President General Pervez Musharraf are scheduled to meet in Agra on July 15, at a time when all bilateral cricketing ties between the two countries have been suspended.

"I would be happy if the India-Pakistan talks begin with cricket," Bharti told reporters in New Delhi.

"There is no better subject than sports for the start of a healthy relationship," she said.

Tensions between the two neighbours due to a dispute over the Himalayan border region of Kashmir have led to two wars and a conflict on the peaks of Kargil in northern Kashmir in 1999.

The cricket-crazy countries have only played each other in the May 2000 Asia Cup in Dhaka since the border clash.

The Indian government cancelled a proposed test tour of Pakistan late last year and denied permission to the national team to participate in a one-day tournament involving Pakistan in April at Sharjah.

Pakistan responded to India's withdrawal from Sharjah by saying they would sever all cricketing ties with New Delhi but have softened their stand after an Asian Cricket championship test match was scheduled between the two sides in Karachi in September.

The Indian government is yet to grant permission to the national team to travel to Pakistan for the test.

But the Board of Control or Cricket in India (BCCI) is optimistic about India's chances of playing because the test is part of a multilateral event involving Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Bharti said she would also like the heads of state to talk about postponement of a hockey tournament due in Pakistan for November because it clashes with the Afro-Asian Games scheduled in New Delhi from November 3-11.

"We would like Pakistan's A team to play in India at the Afro-Asian Games, not their B team," Bharti said.

"We would like to request General Musharraf to talk to hockey's world body (FIH) and have the Champions Trophy event postponed by a few weeks."

The tournament features the world's top six hockey teams.

Mail Cricket Editor