Decision on Indian tour to Pakistan not to be reviewed

At last the final word on the Indian tour of Pakistan has been spoken. The Indian Government, on whose shoulders fell the decision making, has categorically stated that there does not exist any proposal to review the decision to call off the proposed winter tour to Pakistan in view of the continued support of militancy in the Kashmir valley by the neighbouring country.

Reacting to the recent reports from across the border that the tour could after all materialise, a Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman categorically stated on Tuesday "there is no proposal at present to review the decision regarding our cricket team's tour of Pakistan."

The Government decided not to send the team to Pakistan for a three Test and five ODI series of matches, proposed initially to be held in Deceber-January. The Government however stated that a tour would not be possible in this atmosphere of animosity over the Kashmir valley.

The chief of Pakistan Cricket Board, Tauqir Zia, was the first to take a step towards restoring cricketing relations, especially since the last tour of India to Pakistan was in November-December 1989. Krishnamachari Srikkanth had lead the side which witnessed the two teams locked 0-0 in the four Test series.

With the proposal being thrown into their court, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had no option, given the circumstances, to pass it over to the Government to take the appropriate decision on the issue. After some delay, the Government decided not to send the team to Pakistan. Hopes of the tour coming off were again raised by the efforts of the former BCCI president Raj Singh Dungarpur, who had met PCB officials during a visit to Pakistan to attend an ICC meeting. He followed this up by meeting External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh in this regard. In the meantime, six MP's met Prime Minister AB Vajpayee in a bid to get the government to reconsider the decision cancelling the tour.

For their part, PCB officials were keen that the tour should materialise and made further attempts towards the same even after the Indian Government's refusal. Last week, Tauqir Zia in an interview stated that a shortened tour could after all come through. This prompted the BCCI president AC Muthiah to request the government to reconsider their decision.

Even as the BJP headed Government made their stand clear on the issue, came a statement from party vice-president Jana Krishnamurthy who said that "the BCCI should try to understand the present situation and although peace initiatives by India are on, nothing seems to be emanating from the Pakistani side."

Krishnamurthy recalled the Home Minister LK Advani's statement earlier when he had said that without any reciprocal moves by Pakistan, the tour would not be possible. Krishnamurthy said "The BCCI should keep this in mind and not divest cricket from politics and it is not proper for our cricket team to visit Pakistan now."

As a parting comment, Krishnamurthy felt that there was enough time in the future when conditions would be suitable for the Indian cricket team to tour Pakistan. However, at the moment, the suspense over the on again and off again tour seems to be finally settled.