Pak Foreign Ministry confirms cricket team’s participation in World T20

Islamabad : Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Nafees Zakaria on Thursday confirmed that the Pakistani cricket team will be participating in the World T20 to be played in India.Addressing a weekly briefing here, Zakaria said, “Regarding the cricket team, I will say that, as you obviously know, Pakistan believes in people-to-people contact, and sports also afford an opportunity for people to people contact. Pakistan team will participate, actually, in T20 World Cup, and it is the responsibility of the Indian government to provide them the security. But if you need more details about the team and their schedule, PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) will be able to tell you.”
The confirmation comes in the wake of concerns expressed by Pakistan authorities over the Indian response regarding provision of security to the Pakistani cricket players during the upcoming World T20.On Wednesday, in a statement issued from the Interior Ministry, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said the players could be granted permission for the visit only after getting solid assurance from Indian side regarding their foolproof security.The World T20 match between the arch-rivals is scheduled for Saturday (March 19) in Dharamsala.However, uncertainty now surrounds the event as Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has refused to provide security to the Pakistan team.In the statement, Khan said that after holding consultation with the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman, a report will be presented to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on this expected visit to India.”Besides Indian authorities, it is also the responsibility of the International Cricket Council to ensure security to the players,” the statement quoted Khan as saying.Expressing disappointment over the recent statement of Indian Defence Minister, Manohar Parrikar, saying the terrorists involved in Pathankot airbase attack had backing from Pakistan, Zakaria said the blame game over the Pathankot attack was highly unfortunate.”Pakistan believes that all nations need to co-operate with each other to defeat the menace of terrorism. Pakistan condemned the incident, Prime Minister called to assure co-operation, Pakistan took all necessary measures on the basis of preliminary information provided by India regarding Pathankot terrorist attack. JIT has been formed and modalities are being worked out for the visit of the team to India. Co-operation and understanding is the need of the hour. Blame game is unfortunate and unhelpful,” Zakaria said.