ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will not participate in the World T20 until the Indian government ‘publicly’ guarantees security for the men and women’s national teams, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar said on Thursday.
“The ICC and the BCCI have been very accommodating, but it is the Indian government’s security assurance that matters the most,” said Nisar while addressing a press conference in Islamabad.
“Thus far, there has been no such indication from them,” he added.
Earlier, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) also announced that it wanted security assurance from India before it allows the team to travel to the World Twenty20 with its first group match at Kolkata scheduled for next Wednesday.
PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan briefed the team players and officials in Lahore on Thursday and was hopeful the Indian government will publicly announce Pakistan team’s safety during the tournament.
Khan told the players the team’s departure will only be possible once India gives security assurance and the government of Pakistan also clears the tour.
The ICC has already moved Pakistan’s group match against hosts India to Kolkata on March 19 due to security concerns around playing in the hill city of Dharamsala.Legal action will be taken if Pakistan do not come
On the other hand, according to the Indian Home Ministry the World T20 is going to be a safe and secure event for all touring teams and that the government will not assure security to each side separately.
“I would like to draw your attention to the fact that all necessary arrangements, including those for security have been made in the past for all international sporting events organised in India,” The Times of India quoted the ministry of external affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup as saying in New Delhi.
“Recently as you are aware, the South Asian Federation Games saw good and enthusiastic participation of all contingents from all SAF countries, including Pakistan. We are confident that the ICC World T20 will also be a resounding success in all aspects,” added Swarup.
Swaroop believed that the security arrangements are fool proof and Pakistan’s concerns are ‘unjustified’.
“We have done the best possible security arrangements and if they do not come now, we will have to take the legal route. It will be very unjustified, if they do not come,” he said.
