PM Gilani to visit India to witness Pak-India WC semi-final
ISLAMABAD, Mar 28 (APP): Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, on the invitation of his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh, will visit India to witness the ICC World Cup semi-final between Pakistan and India to be held at Mohali on Wednesday (March 30). The two leaders are expected to discuss the whole range of bilateral matters on March 30 before their teams clash at the Mohali Cricket Ground. The Indian Prime Minister had invited President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani to witness the ICC World Cup semi-final between their two teams, which is being billed as the “clash of titans”.
“I have decided to avail this opportunity in national interest,” Gilani told the Cabinet on Monday, that was convened two days ahead of schedule to discuss his forthcoming visit to India.
At the Cabinet meeting, the Prime Minister thanked his Indian Counterpart for extending an invitation to watch the semi-final match.
He said it was also a timely opportunity for the two governments to show the world that the two nations can play together and sit and deliberate together on issues of national importance.
Prime Minister Gilani on Monday evening also talked to the Captain of Pakistan Cricket team Shahid Afridi over telephone and wished the best of luck to the national cricket team in the ICC World Cup semi-final.
The Prime Minister conveyed the sentiments and prayers of the whole nation for the success of the team.
He said that irrespective of the result of the match the team should demonstrate the best of sportsmanship and dedication to contest.
The Prime Minister said that while accepting the invitation of the Indian Prime Minister to witness the match, it was in his heart to be present on the occasion to express solidarity with the players of the Pakistan Cricket Team.
Before Prime Minister Gilani’s visit to India, the Interior Secretary level talks between the two countries are also being held in New Delhi on March 28 and 29.
The March 30 meeting of Prime Minister Gilani and Prime Minister Singh followed their meetings in July 2009 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on the sidelines of the NAM Summit, and in April 2010 in the Bhutanese capital Thimphu.
Gilani and Singh also exchanged greetings at the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington in April 2010.
In June 2009, President Asif Ali Zardari and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met on the sidelines of BRIC and SCO summits in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg.
It is not the first time that a Pakistani leader is visiting India to witness the cricket match.
The first instance of cricket diplomacy between Pakistan and India dates back to 1987 when former President Zia-ul-Haq visited Jaipur to watch a Test match between the two countries in the company of the then Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi who had invited him.
In April 2005, former President Pervez Musharraf visited India to watch a one-day international between the two countries at Ferozshah Kotla in Delhi.