Singh invites Zardari, Gilani for India-Pak match at Mohali
Cricket diplomacy to give a fresh impetus to bilateral ties, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has invited Pakistan President and Prime Minister to watch the Indo-Pak cricket encounter in Mohali on 30th March when he will also be present.
In an identical letters to President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, he said he proposed to watch the Indo-Pak World Cup semi-final and "it gives me a great pleasure" to invite them to watch the match."There is huge excitement over the match and we are all looking forward to a great game of cricket that will be a victory for sport."It gives me great pleasure to invite you to visit Mohali and join me and the millions of fans from our two countries to watch the match," he said in the letters to both the leaders.
Dr. Singh's cricket diplomacy will be the first major bilateral event at the summit level between the two sides either in India or Pakistan since 26/11 attacks when relations between the two countries plunged to a new low.Cricket diplomacy between the two countries, which have often witnessed acrimonious ties in the last over two decades, had brought the late President Zia-ul Haq and former President Pervez Musharraf to watch cricket matches in India.In the last couple of years, Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan have met in third country locations on the margins of NAM conferences in Bhutan and Egypt.Foreign Ministers of the two countries have also met in between but the last meeting between them in July last year turned out to be a fiasco.The two countries had recently decided to intensify contacts and a meeting between Home Secretaries of the two countries is slated on Monday and Tuesday in New Delhi.
President Asif Ali Zardari today said that dialogue is essential to resolve the problems between the two countries.In an interview to Al-Arabiya news channel in Islamabad, he said, Pakistan is hoping to engage India in a new dialogue.Asked if he would visit India to give a push to the peace process, he said, let the talks come up to a certain level.Pakistan has welcomed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's invitation to President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to watch Indo-Pak World Cup cricket semi-final match at Mohali.Official sources said, a decision on the invitation will be taken after Pak PM returns from Tashkent.
In an identical letters to President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, he said he proposed to watch the Indo-Pak World Cup semi-final and "it gives me a great pleasure" to invite them to watch the match."There is huge excitement over the match and we are all looking forward to a great game of cricket that will be a victory for sport."It gives me great pleasure to invite you to visit Mohali and join me and the millions of fans from our two countries to watch the match," he said in the letters to both the leaders.
Dr. Singh's cricket diplomacy will be the first major bilateral event at the summit level between the two sides either in India or Pakistan since 26/11 attacks when relations between the two countries plunged to a new low.Cricket diplomacy between the two countries, which have often witnessed acrimonious ties in the last over two decades, had brought the late President Zia-ul Haq and former President Pervez Musharraf to watch cricket matches in India.In the last couple of years, Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan have met in third country locations on the margins of NAM conferences in Bhutan and Egypt.Foreign Ministers of the two countries have also met in between but the last meeting between them in July last year turned out to be a fiasco.The two countries had recently decided to intensify contacts and a meeting between Home Secretaries of the two countries is slated on Monday and Tuesday in New Delhi.
President Asif Ali Zardari today said that dialogue is essential to resolve the problems between the two countries.In an interview to Al-Arabiya news channel in Islamabad, he said, Pakistan is hoping to engage India in a new dialogue.Asked if he would visit India to give a push to the peace process, he said, let the talks come up to a certain level.Pakistan has welcomed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's invitation to President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to watch Indo-Pak World Cup cricket semi-final match at Mohali.Official sources said, a decision on the invitation will be taken after Pak PM returns from Tashkent.
Comments