New Delhi, March 25
India and Pakistan are set to once again engage in cricket diplomacy to give an impetus to the process of normalisation of bilateral ties which touched their nadir in the wake of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, a votary of good neighbourly relations between India and Pakistan, has invited Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Reza Gilani to watch the crucial India-Pakistan semifinal of the ICC Cricket World Cup at Mohali on March 30.

The PM wrote identical letters to the two Pakistani leaders, saying he proposed to be at Mohali to watch the all-important 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.

Sources said Gilani was likely to visit India to watch the match in the company of Singh. If Gilani comes, it will be the first major bilateral event at the summit level between the two sides either in India or Pakistan since the Mumbai attacks.

However, it will not be the first occasion when the two countries will resort to cricket diplomacy to deal with acrimony in bilateral relations. It was in February 1987 when late Pakistan president Zia-ul-Haq had visited Jaipur to watch an India-Pakistan test match at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium at the invitation of then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. The meeting between the two in Delhi after the match had brought down tempers to a great extent.

Former President Pervez Musharraf had visited India in April 2005 to watch an India-Pakistan one-day tie at the Ferozeshah Kotla in Delhi. He also held talks with Prime Minister Singh. For the Mohali cricket tie, a large number of people from Pakistan are expected to cross into India from the Wagah border. Sources said it would not be difficult at all to make security and other logistic arrangements for the visits of Singh and his Pakistani counterpart at Mohali. A helipad is there right in front of the PCA Stadium at Mohali. The IAF airbase too is just 3 km from the stadium.

Incidentally, the cricket match at Mohali will be played a day after the conclusion of the two-day home secretary-level talks between the two countries in New Delhi on March 28-29. The officials are expected to discuss terrorism, drug trafficking and the progress in the trial of the seven accused lodged in a Pakistani jail for their involvement in the Mumbai attacks. The talks between the home secretaries will be followed by similar meetings between top officials of the two countries on other outstanding issues. The foreign ministers of the two countries are expected to review the progress in talks on all outstanding issues in July. The foreign ministers of the two countries met in mid July last year in Islamabad but their meeting ended in a fiasco.

Chandigarh, March 25
The Pakistan cricket team arrived here today amidst tight security from Dhaka for the march 30 semifinal.

With arch-rivals set to clash, politicians, corporates and fans, including those from across the border, are jostling for tickets that have already been sold out.

Majority hotels in Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula have also been booked to capacity. — TNS